Samurai 5p225v

AMRA

VALIANT BOOK THREE

JOANNA WHITE

OTHER BOOKS IN THE VALIANT SERIES:

Forgotten – A short introduction to Hunter

Hunter – Valiant Book One

Rebels – A Valiant Companion Novel

Sightless – A short story ending to Hunter

Shifter – Valiant Book Two

Reclaimed – A short story ending to Shifter

Samurai – Valiant Book Three

AMRA

Copyright © 2021 by Joanna White

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected].

First Edition, 2021 by Joanna White.

Thanks to God, my Father in Heaven, for giving me this talent and ion for writing and for giving me this story to tell. This book is dedicated to my family for all their , especially to my husband for being my editor and encouraging me on this journey.

A huge shout out to the fans and readers of The Valiant Series and your excitement and patience as you waited for this book.

Chapter One:

AKARI

The land had never been more alive. Crystal rivers snaked through verdant forests and across lush prairies and peaceful hills, flowing with beauty and life. The grass constantly moved and shifted due to the wind, with no concern for time or space. The many different colored trees danced as the wind caressed their leaves. So many colors—purple vines hugged tall tree trunks, spidering down them like webs. A few trees held leaves as yellow as the dawn itself. Fruits —oh, the delicious fruits—grew in vast quantities; the sour and sweet ones, the ones with brown dots that were as dark as bruises, others bigger than a human head. Some were thick enough that only a sword could penetrate them. Several had seeds and others were seedless… All were unique in their own way.

Out of all the trees, the most elegant was the cherry blossom. It was the time of its blooming, which only came for a couple months every two years in our world. Pink and white petals cascaded off the branches. Their balletic movements were like falling snowflakes; so alluring, yet so fragile. Like a life that was blessed, but would too soon meet its end.

I, Okada Akari, stood below their shattering beauty, gazing at the rare and precious moments of their lives.

“Well, well. What is a girl from the Sakamoto Clan doing all the way out here?” The voice which had spoken was low, the voice of a man. His accent was vaguely familiar—that of the Iwashita clan to the East.

I turned, allowing my hand to rest within reach of the katana at my left hip.

The man wore a dark blue kimono which was made of light silk; fit for the season. I assumed he was of some importance; the quality of the silk suggested so. He wore his katana on his left hip, with a matching wakizashi just under it. There was no doubt that this man was a samurai. Though his lips upturned into a smirk, his eyes narrowed on mine, alert and fierce. His face was quite handsome, and he appeared no older than I. His colors—dark blue and white—were that of the Iwashita clan, as was the insignia on the end of the handle of his katana.

The colors on my kimono, as well as the insignia on my own weapon, had revealed to him what clan I was from. I would have to proceed cautiously if I was to avoid a fight. “I could say the same of you, Iwashita samurai.” I narrowed my eyes, but slightly shifted my right foot back in case I would be forced to draw my katana.

Half his mouth lifted into what was something in-between a grin and a smirk. “And here I thought today was going to be boring.” Though his eyes never left mine, his hand drifted toward his sword.

I rested my right hand on my own. “Do you realize you are outside your clan’s borders?”

He raised an eyebrow and looked around, feigning surprise. “Oh? I truly hadn’t noticed.”

I frowned at him. “What is your purpose here?”

He shrugged—his expression indifferent.

Whatever his intentions were, I could not allow him to remain in our borders. He did not seem to be the sort of man who would listen, nor honor any request I would make, but I knew I had to try.

“It would be wise if you would return to the Iwashita Clan’s borders.” I kept my voice calm, but firm.

“And if I don’t? I suppose you plan to make me?” His eyes slid over me lazily.

“Only if I am forced to.”

He used his thumb to unsheathe his katana just a bit. Before he could draw his weapon, I darted toward him. As I moved, I pulled out my katana to hit his ribs with the hilt as I ran ed him. Only when I did so, he was not there. The blow would have been strong enough to knock his breath out, especially at the speed I had been going.

Yet he had been faster.

I glanced over my right shoulder, moving my right arm in the same direction as I

turned around. The movement was just in time to block a strike from him toward the right side of my neck.

He raised his eyebrows and clicked his tongue. “Not bad. Too slow, but not bad.” He grinned as his blade pressed against mine.

The force shoved me backwards.

I recovered quickly enough to block another attack at my left ribs. He attacked up higher and to the right, which I blocked, and then I lunged forward as he back stepped. Sidestepping, I parried another jab toward my chest.

His attacks continued and though I was able to block them in time, he was not using his full strength.

He was only toying with me.

I ducked underneath his next attack and slid ed him. With a quick turn, I swung toward him, and then continued the movement by slicing it all the way across, where his back should have been.

Once again, he was not there.

Though he dodged, I continued the flowing movement, turning around to face

him. Tightening my grip on my weapon, I slid my feet to form a defensive stance.

He stepped toward me, in an aggressive stance.

I swung toward his stomach.

He blocked and lunged at me faster than my eyes could fully follow. I just barely managed to block him with the back of my katana, but he had the offensive once again. He twisted to the left and before I saw anything, he was behind me.

The cold steel of his blade bit at the right side of my throat.

He laughed. “Now what?”

I shifted my feet to try to get a better position so that I could kick him, but he shoved me forward. Grabbing my right wrist, he twisted, making me groan and drop my katana.

I moved my right leg to try to kick his knee, but he twisted me to the left and slammed my chest against a tree.

His legs pressed roughly against mine, keeping me from moving. Letting go of my wrist, which was no doubt sprained, he grabbed my hair. He roughly jerked

my head back so that it was beside his.

I grunted and struggled, but to no avail; his grip was like iron.

He chuckled at my struggling. “What’s the matter? Can’t get away from me, woman?”

I clawed at him, digging my nails into his arm. Fighting back only seemed to entice him, however.

“This might hurt a little.” With those words he slammed my head against the tree. My vision darkened, and I fell unconscious.

***

When I finally awoke, my hands were tied to a tree behind me. My katana and wakizashi were both gone. I pulled, but whatever was holding me was too strong for me to break out of.

“Welcome back, woman,” the samurai said from where he sat against a tree. “Why don’t you tell me your name? Unless you’d rather I just keep calling you ‘woman.’”

“Okada Akari, but you may call me by my family name.”

“Hmm…. Okada... Where have I heard that name before?”

Instead of answering him, I focused on my surroundings.

We were in a small area surrounded by trees. He leaned against a tree to my right, and there was a fire directly in front of me. My katana and wakizashi lay just beside him on the ground. His katana was laid atop his knees, which were drawn up to his chest, and his hands rested atop his blade.

Because it was night, and our moon was far away and dim, I had only the light from the fire to see with. With that light, I could just barely make out his features.

His eyes were dark and his features were sharp. Despite the smirk that seemed permanently etched on his face, there was an air of seriousness around him. His eyes appeared lazy, but missed nothing. Yet there was something about him that showed that he was neither inexperienced or naive.

His dark hair was about shoulder-length, with part of it pinned back, leaving a few loose strands hanging down by his face. Cherry blossoms fell around him like a gentle rain. It was a picture of fierce serenity, like the calm before a storm destroyed everything you held dear… It was agonizingly beautiful and viciously peaceful.

“What are you staring at?” Though his expression was a mixture of boredom and irritation, his tone sounded merely curious.

“What should I call you?” I asked instead of answering.

“Shinji.” He closed his eyes.

“Just Shinji? Is that a family name?”

“No.” He answered without opening his eyes.

I sighed, and saw no reason for further conversation.

I had no idea what fate awaited me.

Chapter Two:

MEGUMI

Everything inside the imperial palace was a riot of deep shades of violet, red, and white. Silks and velvets hung along the walls, as did vivid paintings of the Old World. Scrolls were also scattered about with famous poems etched upon them, which were written in masterful calligraphy. These poems spoke of beauty and life, and sometimes bushido—the way of the warrior.

Inside the council chamber, there was a large table that was low to the ground— as was customary of all the tables in our world. It was wide—fit for many people. Around it sat the leaders of the most prominent clans, the right-hand advisor to the Emperor, the Shogun who was the military advisor, the ten most important advisors to the Emperor, along with the Emperor himself, his wife, and I.

I sat at the end of the table, directly opposite from the Emperor. As his daughter, I was to sit quietly and listen in on the meeting. Everyone tucked their legs beneath them as they knelt on the floor. My mother and I kept our hands folded in our laps. I knew my face was perfectly composed, showing nothing of my anxiety to leave.

This particular discussion was about the clans and their alliances. Two of the biggest clans, beside ours, were on the brink of war: the Iwashita Clan and the Nishimura Clan. The rest of the clans’ loyalties were in question; none of the advisors knew exactly which side they ed in the conflict. My father

wished to settle the disagreements without the use of the samurai.

Most of the politics were still slightly confusing to me. However, I was forced to listen in should the day come when I would take the throne. I knew that it never would. Once I was married, my husband would take the position of Emperor and he would rule, not me.

In addition, I knew that none of the clan leaders or of the council would rest easily with me on the throne. Not one of them would accept me as their Empress, in any case.

No clan would accept an Empress who only had one arm.

As soon as the meeting was over, my father dismissed all the clan leaders. Only his personal advisors remained in order that they could discuss the matter further without the prying ears of the other clan leaders.

“The Iwashita Clan will not listen! If we receive the loyalty of the other clans, they will only feel threatened.” The man who had spoken was my father’s righthand advisor, whose family name was Okada.

Another advisor spoke up. “Especially if the Nishimura ally themselves with us! What will the Iwashita do then?”

Though it was rhetorical, my father spoke up. “Either way, one clan will feel threatened over the other.”

“It would be in our best interests, and the interests of the people, if we were to stay neutral to this conflict,” the Shogun said.

My father’s eyes narrowed. He was a middle-aged man, bulky and brave. Although he was the emperor, and not expected to fight, he kept himself in good physical shape. His eyes were full of wisdom and experience. The only signs that the stress of leading our entire clan had taken its toll on him were the lines that had begun to age his face, ever so slightly. “And leave the people of both clans to suffer, due to their war?”

“Yet we would be placing our own people in harm’s way in the process,” the Shogun continued. “I think it would be best to let these two clans fight it out on their own.”

My father thought about this deeply. He was not one to want innocent people to suffer, but he always put the needs and interests of his people first. It was rare for anyone in a leadership position, and even more so for an Emperor. “I cannot deny assistance when it is asked for. The Iwashita may only fight the Nishimura, but should they overtake the Nishimura, how long before they turn against the other clans, or even our clan should they gain enough ? I have no choice but to involve myself in these affairs. All we can do is pray it does not result in all-out war.”

The somber faces around the room showed no disagreements. My father had made up his mind.

As the rest of the advisors filed out, Mother stood and left the chamber, leaving only Father and I. I rose and was almost out of the room, before he spoke.

“Hurrying off so soon?”

I smiled at him sheepishly. “I was just…”

“Going to train with Ryosuke again?”

My eyes widened and I was not able to meet his gaze.

“Megumi, I know how much training means to you. I am glad Ryosuke helps you. Better hurry to him.”

I looked at him, shocked, unable to reply for a few seconds. Normally, I would have been scolded, or worse. I knew it was not my place to train with the samurai, but to focus on politics and policies, laws and elegance, formality and sophistication. Maybe it was the tension between the clans, or the fact that we were on the brink of war, but something had compelled my father to encourage my training, not rebuke it.

I nodded and started toward the shoji again. The moment I placed my hand on the side of it, I hesitated, turning back to my father. “If the Iwashita go to war with us, can we hope to beat them, Father?”

He met my gaze, and smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. “For now, do not worry on such things. Enjoy the present time, or you will miss out on the precious moments as they you by.”

I nodded and headed out the door.

Chapter Three:

MEGUMI

As soon as I reached the dojo grounds, my stomach danced with butterflies and nerves. I was more excited than anything, but a part of me felt nervous whenever Ryosuke and I trained. He was wise well beyond his years. At only twenty-three years-old, he served directly underneath his father, the High General, and had earned every bit of his position. Despite the fact that I was only four years younger than him, his strategies and advanced techniques made me feel no more than a mere child.

“If I correctly, you have a council meeting to attend.” The moment Ryosuke’s eyes rested on mine, those were the words he spoke.

“I did and now I am here,” I replied simply.

“Does your father know you’re here?” He slightly narrowed his eyes, but his expression was pleased.

I shrugged, yet smiled.

“You need to pay closer attention to the meetings. Someday…”

I interrupted him. “Someday, someday, yes. Look at me, Ryosuke. You know as well as I do that I could never be the Empress. For now, I will do what I want to do.”

He looked as if he was about to protest, but changed his mind. “What is it you want to do then?”

“I wish to train here with you.” I smiled warmly.

The first time he had ever looked at me, his expression had been like everyone else’s when they saw me: full of doubt and disbelief. Some had even looked at me with disgust.

For a second, his expression mirrored what it had the first time we had sparred, but it quickly changed to understanding. He met my gaze, as if trusting the decision I had made, and placed his hand on the katana at his left hip.

I drew my shortened katana. It was a little longer than a wakazashi, yet shorter than a regular katana, forged especially for me. It enabled me to wield it with only one arm, so my strikes would still be effective. Many samurai used both hands to get the most power behind their attacks; a one-handed samurai was unable to fight to his or her full potential. It was why I was seen as, not only as a disabled girl, but one who would never learn the art of the sword. Someone who would never be able to strike with full power or win against an equal or better opponent.

The first time Ryosuke and I had sparred, he had been surprised at how well I had fought. Though I had lost to him that day, he knew from then on that I was not as weak as everyone assumed I was. It took some time, but eventually he had seen me as a warrior—an equal.

I slid into an aggressive stance, with my right foot back, right hand facing downward and behind me.

Ryosuke pulled out his katana, raising it above his head, stepping out with his left foot forward. I charged toward him, stepping with my right foot and moving my right arm forward as I did so. I lunged with the blade toward his chest, but he gracefully parried it away to the right.

I slipped around and behind him quickly. My technique focused on speed and smaller strikes, whereas his focused more on strong, single-attacks. I spun about, so that I faced his back, as I struck forward with my sword.

He had predicted what I would do, and dodged to the right, turning halfway to face me as he moved. He went into action then, striking toward my head from above with a powerful attack. I twisted to the side, stepping closer to him. While inside his guard, I thrust toward his neck. He swiped my sword aside, stepping backwards to create distance before he attacked again. I jumped back to avoid his blow before reengaging again.

We read each other perfectly. When one took a step, the other moved as well; when one attacked, the other blocked or dodged it. For the next several minutes, we danced back-and-forth. Neither one of us was able to gain the upper hand. What we could not say with words, we spoke with our swords. He understood me in a way no one else did. I was not weak in his eyes, nor disabled. He was more than just a mindless soldier to me; he was all the strength I did not have,

and provided the confidence I needed. Though we were indeed two very different people, we complemented each other.

Our swords and techniques worked similarly to our personalities. What everyone saw as a less powerful technique, evasion and quickness, worked against his undeniable power and strength; opposite in every way, yet neither able to overcome the other.

He advanced toward me, jabbing his katana toward my heart. Though I blocked and deflected his blow, it was still strong enough to knock me backwards. Fortunately, I stayed on my feet and recovered as quickly as I could, just in time, as he stepped closer to me. I stepped forward just as he did. We were inside the other’s strike zones as we both lunged for a final attack.

I stopped at the last minute, my katana just an inch from his chest, while his just barely touched the skin on my neck. I smiled at him, breathing hard. He returned the smile and lowered his weapon, sheathing it. I took a step back, trying to control my breathing.

“You’re getting faster. Although, you need to work on your stamina. Moving as fast as you do is good, especially against a larger opponent, but if a fight lasts for a long period of time, your energy will be spent before it’s over.”

I nodded, taking in his words carefully, as I sheathed my own katana. “How do I preserve my energy then?”

“You may be fast, but you use too much energy too quickly. You must use your energy in short bursts. You need to learn to pace yourself, taking short periods of

movement, with long periods of dodging. There are also ways to build up your energy, just as there are ways to improve techniques.”

I nodded, thinking back to the fight, and how often I moved quickly. His words explained why I was so tired. I decided to watch myself more closely next time; no more dashing around needlessly.

He grinned. “Enough practice. Come, there is something I want to show you.”

I briefly furrowed my eyebrows in curiosity, but stepped in to walk beside him as he led me away from the training grounds. As we exited the palace gates, the samurai posted there shot us both harsh glances, but said nothing. Ryosuke slowed his pace so that I stepped in front of him. To anyone else, now it would look as if I were heading into the city, and told him to follow as a protector. We followed the road for a few more yards before Ryosuke gestured to the right. I turned and headed in that direction. It wasn’t long before we were out of sight of the samurai patrols.

He picked up his pace so that he was in front of me. We followed a small creek until we reached a grove of cherry blossom trees. It was the time when they were in bloom, which in our world, came so rarely. We stared at the falling petals dancing around us gently as the wind blew. We watched them for a while, both of us silent and enjoying the peaceful moment together. After a while, he turned to face me. I met his narrow-shaped eyes, his gaze kind and loyal, yet fiercely protective. His dark hair was tied back, and came down to his waist. It blew in the wind with the falling petals and I could not take my eyes off him.

“Megumi.” He whispered my name, and it was as soft as the wind on our faces.

“Ryosuke.” My reply was just as soft. I was afraid to speak any louder, afraid to shatter the moment into a thousand tiny pieces. He believed in me when no one else did; he was the first to see me as a true warrior, and not as a disabled failure.

He reached his hand out and I allowed my fingertips to barely touch his. Neither of us moved or spoke for a long time. Though we stood there for several minutes, it felt like but a moment; a single moment where only the two of us existed. One heart, one soul… Both of us together. No soldier, no princess, no samurai, just he and I. It was the only moment we allowed ourselves to share.

By the time we started back toward the palace, the sun had already set. My mother was sure to scold me harshly for not returning sooner, and I was sure my father would as well.

When we reached the gates, they were closed. I glanced at Ryosuke. “What‘s going on?”

He grabbed my arm and pulled me against the walls, pushing me further away from the gates. When we were in the shadows, he put an arm around me protectively. “Something’s wrong.”

Chapter Four:

AKARI

Shinji traveled closer toward the Iwashita borders. Despite the fact that I was his prisoner, deep inside, I was glad he was at least leaving my clan’s borders. We did not need the extra trouble.

Though I believed that God would find a way to save me—at least, that was my hope—I did not have in it me to sit back and wait. I tried to escape several times. When he slept, he always kept a hand on his katana, and his muscles were always tense. The moment I started rubbing the ropes against a rock to try to cut through them, his eyes snapped open. I waited several more hours before I tried again, but the same thing happened. It was obvious he had faced many battles; no one would sleep that light unless they were well-trained.

Another time, I simply kicked him in his groin as hard as I could. We walked for a while and since he did not wish to carry me, he was forced to leave my feet unbound. The instant I kicked him, he doubled over in pain, grunting and cursing at me heartily, but I ran, not bothering to look back. It was my intention to stop and untie my hands as soon as I was far enough away. He recovered quicker than I thought and came after me. I heard him coming but continued running until I knew it was no use.

I turned to face him.

His lips were still set in the smirk he usually kept there, but his eyes were narrowed and full of anger. He lunged at me, but I kicked toward his ribs. He smoothly stepped to the right and grinned. “Oh, so you want to play rough, do you?”

I darted toward him, and using the tree to my right, I launched off it. My body twisted in the air and I landed a side kick to his face.

His hands caught my foot.

He slammed me down to the ground, hard.

I grunted, gasping for air. Not pausing for a breath, I twisted my body to the left, yanking out of his grasp. As quickly as I could, I slid backwards and then rolled to my feet.

He had stayed where he was, unmoving, waiting for me. Once again, he was toying with me.

I glared at him, my fists clenched.

My frustration only seemed to edge him on further. I sliced my foot against the ground, causing dust to fly up around his face.

Though he cursed at me again, his tone wasn’t angry or annoyed. Just as I turned to my right, I was grabbed around the waist and tackled to the ground.

I hit the ground with a hard thud, and he landed on top of me with a grunt. “Get off of me!” Furiously, I kicked at him, but his legs pressed against mine tightly.

His voice was right in my ear. “What? Aren’t you having fun yet?”

I cursed at him, but the words came out sounding more like a growl.

He just chuckled and pulled me to my feet, shoving me forward. “Go on, walk.”

Naturally, I had tried to run more times after that, but no matter what I did, he always caught me. Eventually, I gave up.

One day, about a week and a half after he had captured me, I finally decided to ask him where he was taking me. I had not mentioned it before because I knew he would never answer, but since I had given up on escaping, I thought I would try. It was likely he was leading me to my death, or worse, slavery. A woman samurai would be worth a high price to the Iwashita.

“Where are you taking me?”

He looked up from where he was skinning a fish he had caught earlier. “You

already know we’re inside the Iwashita borders.”

“I know, but I meant where? What city? Do you plan to sell me?”

“Sell you?” His eyes widened, in what appeared to be genuine surprise.

I did not look away from his gaze.

He began to laugh. “You’re not that beautiful, woman.”

Despite that I had the urge to roll my eyes at him, I did not. I would have preferred to stab him. “Good. At least you know that there is more to me than my looks. Besides, I told you before, you may call me by my family name.”

“Okada? Yes, I . I also ed where I’d heard that name before. Your family serves the Emperor of the Sakamoto Clan, don’t they?”

I kept my gaze firmly on his. “If my family worked for the Emperor of my clan, I would be dressed better.”

He chuckled. “I don’t take you for a woman of finery.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Do not pretend to know me, samurai of the Iwashita.” He

had told me enough. Shinji knew who I was, and planned to barter me off, not just for money, but because of who I was. He would fetch a higher price now that he knew my identity, and whoever I was sold to would use me for information about my family, as well as the Emperor.

He shrugged and continued skinning the fish. About an hour later after dinner, we had just started walking again, when there was a loud thundering in the distance.

“What…?” I murmured under my breath. As we broke through the tree-line, my voice trailed off. We stood on a hill, overlooking a valley that stretched far into the distance. The valley was lush and green, with a river that flowed directly through the center. It was filled with tents and people, to which I saw no end. To the right, a small group of samurai trained. To the left, men prepared horses. Throughout the camp, groups of people milled about, talking animatedly, while others sat together and ate their evening meal. A group of samurai in the center knelt down, cleaning their katanas, as if preparing for battle. They wore the Iwashita’s clan colors. It was that moment that I realized it was a war camp belonging to Emperor Iwashita.

They were on the march toward the Sakamoto borders.

Chapter Five:

MEGUMI

Ryosuke and I quietly jogged along the walls which surrounded the palace. We did not stop until we reached the section of the walls that was older. The stones were splintered and cracked, providing more hand-holds, and would make them much easier to climb over.

Despite that I was much slower than Ryosuke, it did not take us long to reach the top. We had climbed up along the east side of the wall, and fortunately, it was high enough to see through the windows on the second level of the palace. There was a lot of commotion coming from every direction; the palace itself seemed to be in an uproar. Men yelled and shouted, and the sound of metal clanging against metal echoed and bounced off the walls.

“What is happening?” I demanded.

The sounds of katanas slicing across flesh, squelched in the distance. Men screamed and cried out in agony. I winced.

“It sounds like it’s coming from the north side.” Ryosuke glanced at me before looking back down the wall. He was debating whether to the fighting to help, or to stay and protect me. The longing in his eyes made it obvious he wished to the fighting, but his samurai duty to my father bound him to protect me at all costs. He seemed to come to this realization long before I did,

however, and climbed down the wall. Once he had reached the bottom, he waited for me, in case I would need help.

I was slower, and had difficulties. Climbing was not easy for me with my disability. It was one of the few things, outside of sword fighting, that actually made me feel disabled and weak.

I lost my hold and fell, but he easily caught me. Quickly releasing his hold around my waist, he backed away to a more respectful distance from me.

“Should we try to reach my chambers?” I asked quietly.

He shook his head. “There is commotion inside the palace as well. We do not know what’s going on, so for now, the most secure place is the pantries. Stay close to me.”

I nodded and followed behind him.

Once we reached the inside of the pantry, Ryosuke placed himself in front of me protectively. His right hand held the hilt of his katana, clenching it tightly. The pantries were in the back of the south side, completely opposite of the fighting. I realized that was why Ryosuke thought it was the safest place. Despite that we were away from where the commotion was happening, I could still hear the sounds of it faintly. I hated the waiting; not knowing what exactly what was going on, who had been hurt, or how many. What had happened? How long before it ended? If the waiting was nearly driving me insane, it had to be worse for Ryosuke.

“I am sorry,” I apologized, bowing low, even though his back was facing me.

He turned and looked at me. When he saw me bowing, his eyes widened. “Please, do not lower yourself to me.” He looked down as I straightened up. “In any case, you do not have to apologize. None of this is your fault.”

“But my presence is keeping you from ing the fight. If it was not for me…”

“Stop,” he murmured. It was his tone that froze me; firm and something else that he never used with me: commanding.

I inclined my head in response. I was about to speak, when he gestured for me to be silent. The noise outside had gotten louder. There were several thuds and sounds of katanas clashing. I swallowed deeply.

Ryosuke’s fists clenched around the hilt of his katana. The clangs and shouts continued for a few more minutes, though they felt like years. Finally, there were several more grunts, followed by some light scuffles and heavy thuds, before the noises gradually stopped.

Once it had been silent for a while, Ryosuke motioned for me to wait. I nodded as he opened the door and looked around. Slowly, he stepped out and disappeared beyond the door.

I had not realized I had been holding my breath until I sighed in relief when he came back and told me that it was all right.

Bodies littered the ground, lying in pools of blood. My eyes widened, but I quickly composed myself and glanced at Ryosuke. They appeared to be samurai, though not from our clan. “Did—did the other clans try to attack us?”

“I’m unsure. Come.” We stepped around the bodies and made our way to the front of the palace. Gathered around the entrance was a battalion of samurai and Ryosuke’s father.

While his father issued orders, Ryosuke and I stood to the side for only a few seconds until he had finished. Once he was done, the samurai all shouted in acknowledgement and then ran off to follow his commands.

“Father,” Ryosuke said, bowing in respect.

He inclined his head to Ryosuke, and then turned toward me, bowing deeply. “Princess Sakamoto.” He gestured for a few more samurai to stand around us defensively.

I nodded my head in acknowledgement toward him. “High General Kurosawa.”

“What has happened here, Father?” Ryosuke asked.

Kurosawa glanced at me, his eyes wary.

I swallowed deeply. Something was definitely wrong. “What happened?”

“The Emperor and his wife have been poisoned. His right-hand advisor, Okada, along with Okada’s wife, have been poisoned as well. They—they’re dead.”

“Wh…What?” Suddenly, it became hard to breathe. “My… parents? No. It— they…” My voice trailed off; the words stuck under the lump inside my throat.

Distantly, I heard Ryosuke suck in a sharp breath. “Have they found the killer?”

His father shook his head. “We have the entire palace on lockdown. I am sending battalions to thoroughly search the entire palace and the city. The city gates have been secured as well. No one will get in or out until the killer is found.”

“Who was fighting against our samurai?” Ryosuke’s eyes narrowed into slits and he crossed his arms.

“Some of the clan leaders did not agree with being locked inside the palace. Their men panicked and tried to escape. We cut them down.” Kurosawa’s voice was intimidating and strong.

I felt a pit form inside my stomach, and had to clench my fist to keep my hand

from shaking. As Ryosuke and his father continued talking, I walked away. I could not listen to them speaking of my parents as if they were dead. No. They cannot be...

“Princess Sakamoto!” Ryosuke’s voice was full of concern, but I could not force myself to turn around and stop.

“Follow her, but give her space, Ryosuke. She must have this time, and only this time, to grieve.”

Chapter Six:

AKARI

I gritted my teeth as Shinji threw me down into a fairly large tent. It was his personal tent, from what I understood. All the samurai we had ed on our way into the camp had either inclined their heads to him in respect, or looked at him with distaste. The latter was the definite majority.

I jumped to my feet, but Shinji wrestled me back to the ground. He slammed me onto my stomach and I grunted as he pressed his knee sharply into my back. Untying my hands, he grabbed both of my arms and flipped me onto my back. Twisting underneath him, I attempted to knee him in the stomach, but both of his knees pressed down onto my legs, pinning me in place.

Despite that I glared at him with all the anger I could muster, it did not appear to faze him at all. As I continued struggling, he forced me to stand, and then slammed me against a post. With a smooth gracefulness that seemed unrealistic, he tied my hands behind me.

“Don’t give me that look, woman.”

“Okada,” I snapped.

“Yes, yes it’s your family name…” He rolled his eyes.

I ignored his comment.

He sighed, but it was lighthearted. “I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere.” He winked and then left the tent.

To have a personal tent meant that he was someone of importance. Although, the way the samurai acted around him, I was unsure. If he was important, they disliked him greatly.

Though with his personality, I could understand their distaste. I began rubbing the ropes against the post. It would take quite a while, but perhaps I would eventually pull the ropes loose enough to slide my hands out. Gritting my teeth as the ropes rubbed against my skin, I ignored the ache and did not stop. The tent itself only consisted of a small writing desk and a tatami mat for sleeping.

We had arrived at the camp sometime before midday after walking all night to get inside the valley. By the time he returned, it was sunset, judging from the dim light seeping in through the cloth of the tent. The ropes had not loosened at all, despite that I had been trying all day. Hunger had started to set in, and my throat had become dry.

It was not often that I allowed myself to feel fear. As a samurai, even as a woman, I faced battle without fear of death. I never foolishly rushed to death, but there was no place in my heart for fear, because I had my faith.

Whatever it was I saw on his expression in that moment, nearly had me quaking in fear. His smirk was gone, his lips set in a firm, thin line. His eyes were narrowed and blazing. They were filled with an anger and a hatred that I had never seen in anyone’s eyes before. His expression was cold and distant; all arrogance and conceited demeanor was gone, replaced by a cold-heartedness that terrified me. His gaze alone stole the words from my mouth.

He collapsed onto the floor, staring out into space. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. He tucked his legs underneath him and remained still for a long while, without saying anything.

After some time had gone by, there were multiple voices coming from outside the tent. Though I could only hear a few words that they said, it was enough to know that they were coming for me. Judging by the slur in some of the voices, and the yelling of the rest, they were looking forward to whatever they were about to do.

Shinji was not going to barter me off.

I was being given to the men in the army. Even though I furiously struggled against the ropes, I kept my face perfectly straight. All the while, I prayed that God would find a way to save me from this terrible fate.

The noise seemed to with Shinji then, because he finally blinked and glanced at the entrance to the tent. The men outside began shouting louder, enough so that I could clearly hear their words.

“Come on! Bring her on out!”

“You can’t keep her in there forever!”

“Let us have her!”

Shinji just sat there, and though he still looked angry, he made no effort to move. They continued shouting, and only grew louder as the minutes ed by.

Finally, something hit the front of the tent, nearly causing it to tear. That seemed to snap Shinji into movement. As he stood up, his lips thinned even more, his eyes narrowed into slits, and if possible, his fists clenched even tighter. His breathing also intensified.

When he walked over to me, I swallowed deeply. I had never begged for anything before. If he had been leading me to my death or even if he had planned to torture me for information on my family, I could have accepted that.

But this…?

“Please.” My voice came out a hoarse whisper.

He did not meet my gaze, or reply. It was as if he did not hear me at all. He took out his wakazashi and cut the ropes around my wrists. Instantly, I began struggling, but he had been prepared. Quickly and smoothly, he placed the blade to my throat.

I glared at him. “Kill me, then. It will be faster.”

Just for a fraction of a second, his eyes widened. Almost as soon as I saw it, the look was gone, replaced by the cold anger once again. He grabbed me by the arm hard enough to bruise it and tugged me forward. I fought him, but eventually he managed to hold both of my arms with his and shoved me to walk in front of him.

“Do it. Or give it to me and I will do it myself.” My voice did not shake or waver. I glanced at him over my shoulder, watching his expression.

The cold anger lifted and suddenly, his smirk was back. “Just for once, woman, can’t you obey me? I can’t give you to them when I want you all to myself, now can I?”

My eyes widened and I gasped. His body shook with laughter behind me. I struggled for another minute, but it did little good; I was trapped within his iron grip. He pushed me forward and we both came out of the tent, facing an angry mob.

I glanced at his expression just for a second.

His eyes held the cold anger again, but it was not as dark as it had been. His lips stayed in that half-smirk of his, as if he anticipated the oncoming fight. “I get her first. The rest of you—“ He grunted, while tightening his grip on me as I continued to struggle, “— can have her after me. If any of you don’t like that,

well, I would be more than happy to fight for her.”

My eyes widened once again and my heart pounded. The look in his eyes was that of a wolf stalking his prey. His expression showed wild anticipation, but for what, I did not know. I could only hope he was eager for a possible fight with the other men, and not for whatever he had planned with me.

No one made a move toward him.

My heart sank and my breathing intensified.

He inclined his head. “Good. Then, if you’ll excuse me…” His voice trailed off as he grinned and pulled me on through the camp. There was a man holding a horse a few feet away who immediately moved out of Shinji’s way as he walked by. Shinji grabbed me and all but threw me onto the horse. Before I could move or ride away, he jumped on behind me. “Hope you don’t mind if I get us a little privacy.” The grin on his face returned and his expression held nothing of the terrifying anger that had been with him before. Then he rode off out of the camp and into the nearby forest, taking me with him.

Chapter Seven:

MEGUMI

The days following my parents’ deaths were nerve-wracking and chaotic. The other clans were in an uproar, and only two of the leaders were even saddened about the affair at all. A few of the leaders were only concerned with the death of their men after they had panicked. Some were worried about what my father’s death would mean for the clans, since he was the only one trying to keep the peace. The one thing they all shared was their anger at being locked inside the palace like common criminals.

I was not allowed to be alone for a second; Ryosuke’s father placed me under the care of his two most trusted samurai, Matsui and Sasake. During the day, Ryosuke convinced his father to allow him to protect me; he knew I would be more comfortable with him.

All I wanted to do was to be left alone. Not even Ryosuke’s company could keep me happy.

After I had walked away from Ryosuke and his father that night, I locked myself in the pantries and cried. I was not sure how long I had stayed in there. The moment I walked out, I told myself that it was the last moment I would shed any tears for my parents. Composing my expression, I took a deep breath and opened the door to find Ryosuke waiting for me.

He met my eyes and I inhaled once again, walking past him with an authority I had not had moments before. Respectfully, Ryosuke bowed, as if accepting the role I had just stepped into.

In the following days, General Kurosawa led the questioning of a few of the men who had been captured during all the fighting. Two of the clan leaders had fled, and had used their samurai as a sacrificial distraction for their escape. After interrogating their samurai, it was discovered that several clans were loyal to the Iwashita. They had only done as the Iwashita had requested, as per the of their alliance agreement.

My own cousin, Tatsuya, had betrayed my parents. He had the loyalty of the men in his division, who would follow him over their own Emperor. As soon as General Kurosawa discovered this information, samurai were dispatched all around the palace and the city.

I was sitting with my legs tucked underneath me in the war chambers, discussing what was to be done about the clan leaders who remained. “Princess Sakamoto.” A servant knelt by the door, bowing to the ground. “Kurosawa Ryosuke is here to see you.”

“Let him in.” The servant bowed lower and slid open the shoji. Ryosuke entered and immediately knelt on the ground. His legs were tucked underneath him and his arms rested flat against the floor in a perfect bow.

“Princess Sakamoto.”

“You may speak.” My voice sounded unfamiliar in my own ears; authoritative

and commanding. As much as I hated being formal with him, I had to be his leader now.

He rose up from the floor, coming out of the bow, but remained kneeling. “General Kurosawa and his men have returned from their search of the palace and the city. Tatsuya is nowhere to be found. Samurai have been sent to arrest the men who served in his division.”

I nodded. As the meeting continued, the advisors suggested that I renegotiate our alliance with the clan leaders who had not sided with the Iwashita. My parents’ burial ceremony, along with that of Okada and his wife, would be the next day at sunrise and sunset. Normally, there would be a mourning period, but because I needed to become Empress, I had no time. The following morning after the funeral ceremonies would be my coronation, with a day of celebration and a feast following. All the clan leaders would be attending my parents’ funeral, my coronation, and the feast afterward, to pledge their allegiance to me as their new Empress. In the days that would follow, meetings would be held to discuss important matters, including the new alliances between our clans, my final decision of Tatsuya’s sentence, along with the sentences of the men in his division.

My life was not my own anymore.

***

That night, Ryosuke stood watch inside my chambers. A woman samurai would soon be arriving to guard me with him in order to uphold my honor. A young servant girl sat behind me, taking down my hair and brushing it out with a comb that had been given to me by my mother years ago.

“Why do you think Tatsuya did it?” I met Ryosuke’s eyes through the reflection in the mirror in front of me.

“It could be many things, Princess Sakamoto. Anger, greed, cowardice…” His voice trailed off.

I glanced down at my hand as it rested in my lap. “Do you think I am ready?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

Somehow, he heard me. I glanced back at his reflection. He gently smiled, his eyes were steady and calm, and his voice was void of pity. “I believe you will lead your people wisely, like your father did before you. You have his wisdom and equality inside your heart, Princess Sakamoto.”

I blinked back tears that had begun to form and glanced back down at the one and only hand I had. The real meaning behind his words echoed inside my mind. You are able to lead your people whether you have two arms or one. My strengths outweighed my weakness.

When the young girl, Chiaki, finished combing through my hair, I told her that she could leave. Once the shoji slid shut behind her and I could no longer hear her footsteps, I turned around and met Ryosuke’s gaze. As I stood, I kept my eyes firmly locked on his. Though I could not embrace him, because at any moment anyone could interrupt us, his gaze on mine held more warmth than if I was actually in his arms.

“Your father and your mother both believed in you. I believe in you, Megumi. You are not alone on this path. Never forget that.”

I nodded and gave him a small smile. He believed in me, even if no one else did. Minutes later, the woman samurai ed us and I lay on my tatami mat on the floor, quickly allowing sleep to overtake me.

***

As the burial ceremony was being performed for both of my parents, I did not allow myself to cry. Many of the servants and advisors did, as well as many of the people.

But I could not.

Afterward, I asked Ryosuke to accompany me as I walked off to be alone. I informed General Kurosawa where I was going, and because I would only be given today to mourn, he did not press the issue of bringing more protection.

Ryosuke walked a few feet behind me. Even as we exited the palace gates and left the path, he stayed at the respectable distance away. Perhaps he thought that we were being watched, as a precaution for my safety. Or maybe he sensed that I wished to be by myself.

I arrived at the grove of cherry blossom trees and watched the petals descend to the ground. They danced in a silent symphony of movement. Looking at their

elegance and splendor sent pain to my chest. Sharing in their beauty, knowing that it would shortly come to an end, brought tears to my eyes.

Was it even worth it? The pain of loss versus the short-lived moments of joy and happiness?

There, amongst the magnificence of the cherry blossoms, I allowed the tears to come. The blossoms fell with my tears and mourned with me.

Chapter Eight:

AKARI

Once we reached the woods, Shinji did not stop. We rode for miles as night ed and the sun rose. We still continued riding further away from the camp, until at last, he was forced to stop so that the horse would not collapse from exhaustion. He jumped off and grabbed me by the waist to help me off as well.

He tied the horse to a nearby branch, and then looked at me. “Please, do us both a favor and don’t try to run. You have no idea where you are—even if you did manage to get away from me, which you wouldn’t—you’d only end up lost and more than likely, dying of starvation or thirst.”

I swallowed deeply. If he moved toward me, I would run.

“Don’t worry; I’m not going to hurt you or humiliate you. I’m trying to take you back across the border.”

“What?” I demanded, in complete shock.

“I had to make some kind of an excuse to get you away from there, didn’t I?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but then shut it again. He had a good point.

“What kind of man did you take me for, woman?”

I glared at him. “I did not take you for a pleasant one. Nor did I ever imagine you would help me get home… When you were the reason I was dragged across the border in the first place!”

He glared at me, but kept his smirk in place, and then rolled his eyes. “I had hoped to use you for a good ransom. If I’d known what they’d have in mind, well…” His voice trailed off.

I narrowed my eyes and said nothing.

Suddenly, his eyes grew cold again, and his smirk disappeared, as if it had even not been there seconds before. When he spoke, it was through gritted teeth. “There is no honor in what he was going to allow.”

“He?” I could not stop myself from asking.

“Iwashita Haruko.” His voice suddenly changed whenever he spoke the name. His usual arrogant drawl was gone. There was no emotion behind his words at all. Somehow that made it sound more venomous than if his voice had held anger or bitterness. There was just…nothing.

“He is the Iwashita Emperor?”

Shinji nodded silently.

“I take it you dislike him?”

Shinji made a sound that was in-between a bitter laugh and a snort.

“Is he unjust?” As I spoke, I stretched out my tired muscles.

“You should sleep,” Shinji said instead.

“You expect me to sleep near you, the man who kidnapped me?” I glared at him as I spoke, but for some reason, there was no anger in my tone, or in my gaze.

“Suit yourself, but I’m going to sleep.” He walked toward me and reached for my wrists. I backed away from him, debating whether to run or try to fight him. “Woman, you should know better than that by now! It’s only for the night, while I sleep. Just so you don’t try to run away.”

I glared at him. Too exhausted to fight him, I let him tie my wrists together and then attach another rope to the one that held my wrists. He tied the end of that rope around the same branch the horse was tied to. My eyes followed him as he walked over to a tree a few feet across from where I stood, knelt, and leaned

against it. As he closed his eyes, his hand rested on his katana.

The rope had enough length to it that I could sit and lean against a tree as well, far enough away from the horse to be at a comfortable distance in case the horse spooked during the night. Though I was exhausted, my body refused to give in to sleep, at first. I watched Shinji as he slept in order to the time.

Every once in a while, he would flinch, so slight that if I had not been closely watching, I would have missed it. When he would flinch, his hand would tighten around his katana. It briefly made me wonder what exactly he was dreaming about, but then as a samurai, especially one in the Iwashita Clan, I did not even want to guess.

Just when my body slowly began to drift off to sleep…

There was an ear-splitting crash that broke the silence of the peaceful night. The earth shook violently enough to jolt me wide awake. The horse reared up and whinnied loudly. As the earth shook again, the horse managed to break off of its rope and run away. Dust flew up everywhere and I coughed. I covered my face as dirt and rocks rained down, pelting my body.

“Wh…what—“

“Come on!” Shinji darted and slid toward me, pulling out his katana all in one swift movement. With one slash, he cut away the ropes from the branch to free me. He grabbed my arms roughly and shoved me away from the tree, just as another explosion rang. We hit the ground hard enough to knock my breath out and my vision blurred. My back slammed up against something hard and I

coughed again.

Through all the noise and chaos, I heard Shinji’s voice in my ear. “Well, it appears we’re under attack.”

Chapter Nine:

MEGUMI

I stood, overlooking a multitude of people, now my people, as the Spokesman for the council of advisors crowned me Empress of the Sakamoto Clan.

High General Kurosawa bowed before me, pledging his allegiance to me. Following him were the other generals, then the commanders, which included Ryosuke, and then the rest of the samurai. They all took out their katanas and placed them on the ground in front of them in a silent promise of their loyalty to me. The advisors and counsellors were next, bowing and pledging their allegiance to me.

The Spokesman bowed last. “Here is your new leader, Empress Sakamoto Megumi of the Sakamoto Clan!”

With his words, the people ed everyone else in a low bow, as I stayed still, appearing proud and tall over everyone. After a few minutes, everyone rose, looking up at me as their new Empress.

The look of doubt and revulsion was clear in many of the generals’ eyes. It was also in many of the people’s as well. Some of the expressions were pity mixed with doubt and revulsion. In my head, I could hear my mother’s voice as if she spoke directly in my ear. “One day, you will be Empress, and with it, the fate of all the people rest in your hands. You cannot fail.” To everyone else, my mother

had appeared rough and harsh, but I always saw through it. It was her bravery and stubborn courage that I tried to hold in my heart to guide me.

After the official coronation was completed, the counsellors, advisors, generals, commanders, and a few of the important samurai and wealthy citizens, along with the other clan leaders and their advisors and families, all ed us in the imperial palace dining hall for a grand feast.

Most of the food and dishes that were served today were the same recipes that our ancestors used: an assortment of unique soups— especially zoni— which was a dish favored most by the samurai, kaiseki— the main meal consisting of seven different courses, a sticky variety of rice, sashimi—raw sliced fish, which was Ryosuke’s favorite. Under normal circumstances, my favorites would have been among the desserts. The sweet kompeito candies were my personal favorite, or even hanabiramochi, which was only eaten at the celebration of the New Year. For this celebration only, it was served especially for me.

Sake was served and everyone drank and ate to their hearts content. As Empress, it was custom to drink sake with my people, especially the samurai, who would be fighting and possibly laying down their lives for me. Conversation was loud, and the room was full of ruckus. Voices carried to echo off the walls, especially once many of the men drank until they were intoxicated.

My legs were folded perfectly underneath me at the low table; my hand placed formally in my lap atop my constrictive kimono of many layers. My hair was pinned tightly enough that my head began to pound.

Or perhaps it was the thought of the responsibilities that was being thrown at me.

The seat directly across from me was left open so that the Empress could see the tables of the others gathered. Ryosuke sat diagonally across from me. As if sensing my discomfort, his eyes met mine.

I allowed myself to hold his gaze for only a second.

His expression was relaxed and confident. For those few seconds, I memorized everything about his face; his stern, yet gentle eyes, his warm smile, his beautiful hair. Was the confidence I saw in his eyes belief in me?

After some time had ed, the doors to the hall banged open. A samurai, one of lower rank from the looks of him, walked in. He limped as he walked and there was blood on his face, as well as on his kimono. His katana was missing, and in his right hand he held his wakazashi.

“What is the meaning of this?” General Kurosawa, who sat to my left, asked.

Just before the samurai collapsed, he spoke words that hurled us into a dark situation that none of us could escape from. “Th—There was an attack…. At—at Tanazaki….”

Chapter Ten:

AKARI

Shinji held my arm firmly in his hands as he ran through the trees. He suddenly stopped, and the movement jerked my arm. From what I could see through the branches of the edge of the tree line, they opened up into a vast, open clearing filled with samurai. We were on the outskirts of several farm houses which all shared and worked the same farmland.

The samurai who were attacking raised a flag that I did not recognize as one of the main clans. “Who do they fight for? I do not recognize their flag…”

Shinji creased his eyebrows. “They are a branch off the main army. They work for the Iwashita secretly. Not many know of them.”

The loud crashing noises continued, shaking the earth around us and sending rocks and dirt flying up everywhere. “What is that?” I shouted over the noise.

Shinji frowned.

I guessed that the machines which were causing the thunderous noise were called cannons. I had only heard them in stories; used by our ancestors in a different world. But I had never seen one, let alone witnessed one being used.

“What are they doing with cannons?” I demanded.

Shinji’s eyes were slightly widened as if he was as confused by the cannons presence as I was. “No clan has ever used cannons before.” He stated the exact thoughts that were in my mind.

I glared at him. “How did your clan even find those ancient weapons? No one has even seen one, let alone knows how to fight against it! The people in the farms will be slaughtered, and their homes destroyed!”

Shinji’s eyebrows narrowed.

I yanked my arm out of his and ran through the trees, following the tree line. Shinji’s voice yelled my name from behind me, and I knew that he would catch up—he always did—but still, I did not stop running. I could not. The farmers had no army, no samurai to protect them.

If I could sneak my way into the encampment, somehow disable the cannons…

“Stop!” Shinji’s cold voice boomed in my ears as his hand jerked me backwards. I gasped, more in surprise than anything, and turned to glare at him.

“How can you call yourself a samurai when you serve a clan who would fight with no honor?” I demanded harshly.

His eyes narrowed into thin slits, and his gaze instantly turned to ice. “I believe in fighting with honor. This—this isn’t what I fight for, and it’s not what I’d die for.”

For a second, I could say nothing in reply.

“You may be a skilled samurai, but even you can’t stop an entire army, woman.”

Distantly, I realized my hands were clenched into tight fists. “Nevertheless, I must do whatever is in my power to help these people. If I survive, you can do with me as you wish afterward.” With those words, I turned my back to him, and continued running.

When he caught up, he did not grab my arm, or wrestle me to the ground to stop me as I had suspected. After a second of staring at me, he held out my katana.

“You are returning this to me?” I asked.

Shinji’s expression shifted into his classic half-smirk. “Why not? I could easily best you again.” He ran beside me, his smirk back in place, but eyes were alert as we ran together. The trees eventually grew farther and farther apart until there was hardly any left. Before long, we reached the edges of the rogue samurai encampment, so we darted from tree to tree to hide from their scattered patrols. When we came to a point with almost no cover from the trees, we were forced to slow down. At that point, we were nearly in the middle of the rogue samurai encampment. It was becoming harder for us to hide from the various men scattered throughout the area.

Shinji placed an arm in front of my chest, and with his other one, gestured for me to stop. His eyes were serious and alert.

After only a seconds’ hesitation, I nodded.

He walked out in the open right into the middle of the rogue samurai. I peered through the bush I was hiding behind and now that I was closer, I could see they held guns at their hips, instead of katanas.

I narrowed my eyes. No samurai would ever wield a gun and allow themselves to live.

There was no way we could stop them. At best, we could only hinder their attack long enough to help the farmers escape and to warn the nearest town that they were coming.

As the rogue samurai saw Shinji, several of them raised their guns at him. A few called out a warning that if he stepped any closer, they would shoot him.

Shinji, as calm as could be, with a smirk on his face, simply drew out his katana at an agonizingly slow pace. The glare in his eyes did not match the smirk on his face. “You men aren’t worth my recognition. I’ll speak to your general.”

One of the rogue samurai stepped forward. “And who are you to demand such a

thing?”

Shinji shrugged, stepping so that his feet were carefully shoulder-length apart. “Just tell your commander that Shinji is here to see him. He won’t want to keep me waiting.”

The man frowned, but called for someone else. Within seconds, a man, who wore what I would assume was a commander’s uniform, came running from several yards away.

“What are you doing here, Shinji?” Although, he did not seem happy to see Shinji, his tone was polite.

“Bring me your general.”

I frowned. It was highly unusual for an ordinary samurai like Shinji to order around a high-ranking commander. The commander murmured to a man next to him, who ran off in the trees.

Shinji was buying me time. I backed up enough so that I was against a tree trunk. There were not any trees for several yards and somehow, I had to get behind them.

I glanced behind me and slowly, began to crouch.

Soon, the man returned with a well-dressed man that had hate in his eyes and a scowl on his expression. The moment he shouted to Shinji, I used the noise to stand all the way up and begin climbing. I listened to their voices as I climbed the tree higher and higher.

“Who are you to dare demand anything of me or my men?”

I was about halfway up the tree, when Shinji finally answered the man.

“I am Iwashita Shinji.”

Those words froze me in place. I nearly let go of the branch I had a hold of. He was… a member of the Iwashita family?

“Prince Shinji!” several of the men shouted and when I dared glance under me, they bowed low to the ground.

I was unable to move or think. He was Emperor Iwashita’s son and heir. There were no words or thoughts to explain what I felt in that moment.

The general’s booming laugh shocked me into climbing again. I fought to steady my shaking hands and to focus. No matter what happened, I still had to continue.

“Bah! A disgraced son and discredited samurai, nothing better than a dog! You

are nothing to demand anything of me or even the lowest of my men! We will not have your presence here to ruin our hard work!”

Several of the men laughed at the last of what the general said.

I had reached as high up as I could go. I was able to stand up completely without the branch breaking under my weight. The nearest tree had been several yards away on the ground, but the trees were large in size. As they grew higher, their branches extended close enough to nearly touch each other. I quickly jumped from the branch I was on, to grab onto the branch of another tree. I continued moving like that: pulling myself onto the branch, making sure it was stable, and then jumping on to the next one, until I had traveled around and behind the rogue samurai. I was almost directly above their main attack formation, although the men stretched almost as far as I could see.

Below me, they had five or six cannons within my eyesight. Each cannon was spaced several yards apart, with five or six samurai around each one, plus extra gunmen in the area between.

I climbed down low enough to be within jumping the distance of the ground and rested my hand against my katana. I inhaled a deep breath and jumped down. In the same movement, I unsheathed and swung my weapon. As I landed, I brought the blade downward to cut away the small chamber which held the main fuse. Instantly, I felt relief when the chamber fell to the ground; I had not even been sure that my katana would have cut through it. Fortunately, from what I could tell, it seemed as if they had made the cannons from a weak material in our world.

From there, I turned to my right and swung my katana across the chest of a man that had been standing almost directly behind the cannon, and then sliced

another one who had been about to fire a gun. I ducked to the ground and rolled out of the way of oncoming fire. The second that I stopped the roll, I swung left to right across a man’s thighs, and then right to left across another one’s chest in a single movement.

I ran as quickly as my body would carry me and just barely slid to the left in time to avoid more fire from gunmen up ahead. Leaping up into the air, I kneed a man in the face, landing on his chest, while sliding my katana to the left and then to my right to strike down two more. As I stepped off the man’s chest, I kicked his gun away, and then kicked him in the throat. I cut away the chamber to the next cannon and then moved on.

It was not long before they discovered what was happening. By the time I cut the chamber from the fourth cannon, samurai had stormed over, too many to count. I moved without thinking, swinging my weapon to slice one man after another. My movements were all quick and continuous. It was not until a hand yanked me backward, so that I stood behind Shinji, that I felt the pain in my left arm. I looked; it was covered in blood. One of the shots had just grazed my shoulder.

“Not bad, woman. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll finish these cowards off.”

He moved while his katana was still sheathed and sprinted toward the rogue samurai at full speed. At the last second, he pulled out his weapon and sliced one man’s side, then another, and before ten seconds had ed, five men lay on the ground at his feet.

I pushed back the pain in my left arm, gripped my sword tightly, and moved to attack a man who had been ready to shoot his gun at Shinji. From there, I moved left, swinging from the right side to slice another man’s throat, and then to slice the hand of another man who held a gun. I ducked and dove down in time to

avoid more gunfire, slamming against the ground on my left side. My shoulder crashed into the ground in a burst of pain. With a grunt, I rolled onto my back just in time to see a blade raised at my throat, held by one of the rogue samurai.

“Why fight a woman, when you can fight me?” Shinji’s voice was arrogant, but his eyes were like a wild animal stalking his prey. His smirk never strayed either, which only served to make him look that much more terrifying and astounding at the same time.

The man, bulky and large, was not like the other rogue samurai. His eyes were different, not unlike Shinji’s or even other samurai’s I had seen before. They held the look of a man who had killed before, one who bathed in blood, lived for war, and was prepared to die at any given moment. This man, as well as Shinji or even myself, would give up his life at any moment, if he was but commanded to do so. The man slowly turned to face Shinji, but his glinting silver blade stayed at my throat. “Fighting a woman is much more appealing.”

I moved, sliding up my wakazashi with its hilt enough to knock his katana away from my throat a few inches. It gave me the room I needed to roll out of the way and stand, all in one quick movement.

At the same time, Shinji moved, stepping with his left foot. To anyone else, both of the men’s movements would have been impossible to follow, let alone read. Shinji went for a powerful strike toward the man’s lower abdomen, while the man went for Shinji’s left arm.

Coming out of the movement, both men had blood on them, the man to his right side, nearly at his hip, and Shinji to his left arm just below his elbow. They did not stop, though. Shinji shifted his feet into a different stance, as the man came at him again. They both blocked and attacked several times before Shinji moved

away and stood in a defensive stance. He sheathed his katana.

The man recognized it, as I did; a quick-draw-strike.

They ran toward each other again, the man striking outward toward Shinji’s chest as Shinji used the hilt of his katana to block the man’s strike, and then come around from the defensive position, to strike the man’s right rib cage. From that movement, Shinji stepped back before moving forward to attack the man again; coming left across his chest, then right across his collarbone and finally left again across his neck.

The man froze and fell to his knees. He dropped his own weapon and grabbed his throat, but the look in his eyes held satisfaction. A good, clean death in battle.

Shinji sheathed his weapon and then nodded toward me, gesturing toward the trees. I could hear the heavy sound of footfalls. It would not be long before other samurai would arrive.

We ran as fast as our bodies could carry us. We headed straight for more trees, as we also ran farther away from the encampment. My body shook with pain and exhaustion, but I forced myself to keep running. At last, my knees gave out from under me and I collapsed. I used the trunk of a nearby tree to force myself upright.

“We should stop and rest,” Shinji said. I glanced up to see him frowning.

I shook my head. Once I caught my breath, I said, “We should continue. In case they sent samurai after us.”

Shinji glanced behind me, and then met my eyes again. “No one is following us. Disabling the cannons won’t stop them, not for long. They’ll continue straight through until they’ve destroyed all the farms. Is there a city near here?”

Throughout the Sakamoto borders, there were scattered farms in several pieces of the good farmland. Judging by where I had started off at, how far we traveled into the Iwashita borders, and then half a day’s ride back into the Sakamoto borders…

I paused a moment to catch my breath again before speaking. “Tanazaki should not be too far from here. It is a city along the main trade routes along the Sakamoto border. It is surrounded by many farm lands and fishing areas. It is the source of most of our food.”

Shinji nodded. “They’ll be going there.”

“We have to warn them.” I spoke without hesitation.

Shinji narrowed his eyes. “Even if we warned them in time, they would not be able to set up defenses against the cannons. Especially when they get them running again. And they will.”

“I am going to warn them. I cannot leave, knowing the slaughter that will happen

there. It is filled with innocent men, women, and children!”

He made a sound, something between a grunt and a growl, but nodded. “The army isn’t acting with honor, and since I can’t stop the army completely… The least I could do is warn the people.” Although he didn’t say it, his eyes seemed to silently finish the rest of his sentence, “not that warning them will do any good.”

Though I was shaking, I pushed my hands off the tree and started jogging again. Shinji grabbed my arm. I glanced back to see him looking at me, with his eyes narrowed.

“We will warn them, but you’ve lost a lot of blood. We should care to our wounds first, and then continue. If you keep going now, you won’t get far. And I’d hate to have to carry you, woman.”

I was too exhausted to correct him again, so instead I only nodded. It did not take us long to find sunika leaves. We spat to wet the leaves down, then applied them to my shoulder and his arm and another light wound on his chest. I tore a small piece of my kimono, as he did the same, and he tied the cloth from my kimono around my shoulder wound. I did the same with his cloth around his arm.

As soon as we were finished, we continued running. The sun had set several minutes before, but thankfully the moon was closer, providing plenty of light. We made our way through the trees until we found the main road, and from there it was not long until we found Tanazaki. It was a city on a large river, the largest river in our world that went from one end to the other, surrounded by a port for ships and several docks. Even at this time of night, several people still worked on the docks, catching fish. There were several ships where people carried cargo

either from the city to the ships, or from the ships into the city, and several boats where more people fished. It was rather busy, yet everyone seemed oblivious to the army headed their way.

There were no real gates to the city, although there were only a few ways into the city by land. Several samurai questioned us at the edge of the road, which ended into the main street of the city itself.

“I am Okada Akari, daughter of the right-hand advisor to Emperor Sakamoto. I am here with a warning for the Shogun here.”

The samurai glanced at one another, and the one in charge clenched his fist around his katana as he looked at me. “What kind of a warning?”

“There is an army, one that works for the Iwashita Clan, on its way here. It has already attacked several of the surrounding farm villages. My guess is they will head here next.”

His eyes slightly widened, but he nodded. “I will have you both escorted to see Nakata Yashiro, Shogun of Tanazaki.”

I bowed to him. “Thank you very much.”

As we were led by four samurai deeper into the city, I glanced at Shinji. I doubted my decision to allow him into the city, let alone to accompany me to meet the Shogun here, but I had no choice. I doubted he would have waited

outside the city while I delivered the warning on my own.

Most of my thoughts were anxious about the army and if the people of Tanazaki would survive and yet there was a deeper part of me that was still in shock that Shinji was the prince of the Iwashita Clan. I had not trusted him before, but after learning of his real identity, it made me that much more reluctant to believe anything he said or did. He had to have an ulterior motive, but what?

Another part of me, in the back of my mind, silently whispered that he was a true samurai, one with honor, who followed the way of the warrior. If so, then would his loyalty to the Iwashita Clan outweigh his honor?

Chapter Eleven:

MEGUMI

I stood before the council. Instead of celebrating my coronation, I was about to send many samurai to their deaths. They would go and die, if that was what they were ordered. I had not even been Empress for a few hours and already people were about to die in my name.

My expression blank, I looked at the group of advisors and higher-ranking samurai. General Kurosawa was among them.

“The city of Tanazaki is in danger. An army marches toward them. Not only do they provide us with trade and food, but they have thousands of innocent people there, untrained people, unprepared for battle. This army attacks without cause, and therefore without honor. Here then, is my decision. I will send three hundred of our army, three hundred trained samurai, to go and defend the city. General Kurosawa, will you take the honor in leading these men into battle?” My eyes met his firm, steady gaze.

He nodded, putting a hand over his heart and bowing his head. “I, High General Kurosawa, will lead our men to protect Tanazaki, for my Empress Sakamoto. May I allow my son and heir, Kurosawa Ryosuke, to protect you in my place while I am away?”

I glanced at one of the advisors, filling in until a new Chief Advisor could be

found in place of Advisor Okada. “What do you think of this request?”

“I think it would be wise to find a talented samurai who is well trained to protect you. This is an act of war, and so soon after the betrayal to our late Emperor. If High General Kurosawa thinks that his son is up to the task, then I must concur.”

I nodded, glancing at Kurosawa. “If your son accepts the task, and you believe it is wise, then I must accept your request, General.”

He inclined his head. “Thank you very much, Empress. I now propose my son Kurosawa Ryosuke as the Empress’s personal protector.”

The other advisors and samurai inclined their heads and saluted to General Kurosawa in agreement.

“You and the men must set off at dawn,” I stated firmly. “There is no time to lose. Make the preparations, and use whomever you need to assist you.”

***

The rest of my night consisted of finding two watchmen to leave immediately and discover what exactly the situation at Tanazaki was and report back to me. After that, I spoke with several people who could accompany the samurai to send supplies to the city, and then met with local citizens who could begin the preparations should refugees come and need places to stay. They would speak with tea houses, restaurants, and inn keepers about it to ensure the people would

have food to eat and places to sleep. By the time I finished the meeting with them and signed the paperwork they needed so they could make the preparations, it was nearly dawn.

I stood from the mat I had been sitting on and stretched out my sore muscles. Fighting back a yawn, I left the room, following many hallways and corridors until I could find the training grounds where I would meet with Kurosawa.

I had not realized I was about to collapse, until Ryosuke caught me. He quickly leaned me on the wall for , and backed away. He bowed his head to me. “Apologies. I did not want you to fall.”

“It is all right.” I smiled at him, though because of my exhaustion, I was sure it came out a grimace.

“You need rest. Your body is exhausted.” Though he frowned, his tone and his eyes were gentle.

“I cannot rest until I see the samurai off. They could be walking to their deaths under my orders. The least I could do is see them off on their journey. Some of them may not return.” The last part was only a whisper. I turned away from him before I lost what little composure I had remaining.

“You could not abandon your people. You made the right choice. Protecting this kingdom will come at a price, Empress. And the samurai who follow you are willing to pay it.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, to let him know I heard his words. Clearing my throat, I glanced at him briefly. “We should go. Your father will be waiting.”

He inclined his head in respect.

Once we arrived at the dojo grounds, Kurosawa bowed, and then approached me. “Empress, all the samurai have been prepared. We are ready to leave. I have also met with the extra men who will be taking supplies for distribution should the people in Tanazaki need it.”

“Good. Thank you, General.”

He bowed in respect, then glanced at Ryosuke. “Be safe, and take care of her.” Despite that his voice was a low murmur, I did not let on that I had heard. His words meant more than just protecting me, but if anyone had heard him speak of me in such an informal manner, he would have been executed.

“I will, Father.” Ryosuke bowed to his father, who inclined his head in return. He bowed to me once more before approaching his commanders and the men, who had gathered on the grounds, light armor on, katanas and wakazashis at their hips, and loyalty in their hearts.

I stood still, watching them for nearly an hour until all three hundred of the samurai were only silhouettes on the horizon.

Chapter Twelve

AKARI

By the time we had gotten an audience with the Shogun and had warned him of the army, it was too late. The sound of gun and cannon fire was faint in the distance.

Shinji and I exchanged a worried glance.

“It’s too late,” he said, standing up from where we had both been kneeling on mats in front of Shogun Nakata. “They’re already here.” His eyes turned toward the doors, and though Nakata looked shocked by Shinji’s lack of respect toward him, he did not reprimand Shinji’s actions.

I bowed deeply to Nakata. “Apologies, but it would be wise to prepare any trained samurai you have. I would also suggest getting anyone you can to safety. Meanwhile, Shinji and I will do what we can to stall them with the men that you have.”

Nakata nodded. “Very well.”

Once Shinji and I were alone as we walked through Nakata’s mansion toward the armory, he glared at me furiously. “I suppose it’s a little late for me to ask if

you’re completely insane. The Shogun of a small fishery city, one without any defenses, is going to have no chance against their army! Especially with their cannons, which they’ve no doubt fixed by now.”

“You expect me to take the coward’s way and run? With all these people still here, in the city, oblivious to what’s about to happen?” I stopped and glared at him with all the vehemence I could muster.

He smirked, then, and nearly laughed as he simply continued walking.

It was several minutes later, once we had met with Nakata’s highest-ranking samurai in the city—a commander—that he and the other samurai went about gathering any man who could wield a sword. Nakata’s servants and messengers scattered throughout the city to spread word to the people. Their man goal was to help the women and children flee into the hills where they would be safe. Once the siege was over, if it went in our favor, they would return.

Meanwhile, Shinji and I made our way to the outskirts of the city. By the time the commander and the other samurai ed us, the army was within eyesight.

“Charging them is pointless,” Shinji muttered.

“They’re in an open field. The cannons are within reach of the buildings while their army makes their way around the city. Checkpoints and hiding will not do any good.” I furrowed my eyebrows after I spoke, deep in thought.

“No, but if we use the city against them—the commander and the other samurai know it better. Force them away from the docks and into the city itself and use the buildings to our advantage. It will confine them, so the fact that they outnumber us won’t matter.”

I thought for a moment before nodding to Shinji’s suggestion.

The commander nodded as well. “It is a better idea than charging guns and cannons with only our swords.” We entered deeper into the city and split up the samurai. The commander took the majority of his men to the main road. It was largest, therefore the easiest way for the army to enter. Several of the samurai had been sent to protect Nakata’s mansion, where the majority of the people in the city had been gathered, although there were still many that lingered in the city itself. They had not had enough time to flee. Since the samurai were split up, barriers had been placed along the other three paths into the city and guarded by a handful of samurai at each one.

Shinji and I stayed with the commander at the main entrance.

Almost as soon as we got to our positions—hiding inside different alleyways— the cannon fire began. My ears rang from the loud sounds and every time one landed, I flinched, unprepared for how loud it was. Cannonballs smashed through the docks as well as into several buildings, setting several of them on fire. A few people who remained set about getting water from the river to stop the fires from spreading any farther—it was fortunate the whole city was built along the river, making the water easily assessable. The earth shook beneath us with each cannonball that landed in the city. Walls only a few feet away tumbled down onto a group of samurai behind me. The blow knocked me to the ground. Unable to move away fast enough, all I could do was cover my head.

I shoved away a piece of timber that had landed on my left side. My katana and wakazashi were still intact, and I only had minor cuts and bruises. Most of the samurai deeper in the alley behind me had gotten the worst of the debris. The sounds of raspy groans and screams mixed with the cracks and crashes from falling debris and the crackle of whatever few flames were left.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Before I had a chance to move, a loud crack went off again. It took me a moment to realize that it was a gun going off from the entrance into the alley. It was dark, so his line of vision had been off.

I unsheathed my katana as I sprinted toward him, slicing his gun hand as I moved past him. Quickly, I turned all the way around and swung my blade outward. Blood trickled down his back and he groaned, falling to the ground. Outside the alley, the army stormed the city, going into houses, shooting their guns at anything that moved. Screams of horror and agony rippled through, and even the sound of the cannons going off could not drown it out.

Another rogue samurai entered a shop just outside the alley. Before he could shoot a man who was standing in front of a woman and child, I stabbed him in the back.

“Get down!” I yelled at the man. He completely covered his wife and child, just as another cannon went off. I fell to the ground, my knees and elbows slamming into the floor, my teeth rattling inside my mouth. My left ear rang so loudly that no other sound came to it as I struggled to my feet. The shoji had been shattered completely, and most of the wall at the front had been knocked down. I pushed off several pieces of debris that had landed on me and winced as pain shot up my right arm. Clenching my teeth, I pulled out a piece of wood that had stabbed me, just below my elbow.

Another man entered through the doorway, his gun leveled directly at my head. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger, right as I swung my katana and dodged as fast as I could.

When I expected pain, or something at least to hit me, none did. I realized the gunfire had missed me completely and had landed on part of the wall that was still standing behind me. Shinji stood behind the man, a smile on his face and fire in his eyes, his blade stuck inside the man’s throat.

Though my left ear still rang, I could faintly hear him out of my right one. “Don’t expect me to keep saving you, woman.” He smirked right before heading back onto the main road. I followed closely to him, katana ready, my eyes alert and watchful.

I dashed toward another man who stood over a dying samurai, gun in hand, about to shoot him in the head. He saw me coming at the last second and turned his gun to me. I dodged and slid forward defensively, slicing my sword across his throat. The gun had barely grazed my right arm, but I paid no attention to it. The samurai on the ground, hands clenched over a bullet wound to his stomach, with one in his leg and upper chest as well, met my eyes with a look of gratitude and respect.

“Die well, my friend,” I murmured quietly, before turning around to chase after another rogue samurai. I sprinted toward him, jumping up in the air as he fired at me and missed both times, and sliced my katana across the back of his neck as I landed swiftly behind him.

Another man a few feet down the alleyway growled in frustration and fired his gun, but not at me. The blow had caused debris above me to fall and I just barely had enough time to twist to the right to avoid being crushed.

The time he took to reload was all I needed. I ran toward him, swinging across his throat, then his chest, and last his lower stomach. Suddenly, I was knocked sideways and nearly stumbled to the ground. For a few seconds I was disoriented and had no idea what had happened.

I finally realized that another man had shot at me. Shinji had knocked me out of the way, in barely enough time. In the same moment, another cannon had gone off and had thrown the man’s aim off, so that the gunshot had just grazed the skin on Shinji’s side, rather than have hit him completely.

He and I sprinted toward the man at the same time, and the man was either frightened by two samurai covered in blood running toward him with swords while he held a gun, or too shocked to move. Shinji sliced his katana into the man’s side, while I sliced mine across the man’s chest and then across his back as I had moved past him.

“Whatever happened to not saving me again?” I glanced at Shinji.

He grinned and then shrugged. “When you die, it’s not going to be a gun or a coward that kills you.”

I blinked at him, surprised at his words, but had no time to think on them. Another man was preparing to aim at me from my right. I lunged toward him and jumped off the wall, landing my katana deep into his right shoulder. As I yanked my sword out, I swung toward his chest. He fell to the ground, groaning and fumbling uselessly for his gun. I glared at him in disgust, before moving back out onto the street.

We ran through the city, through winding alleyways and into shops, saving as many people as we could and killing as many of the rogue samurai as possible. No matter how many men we cut down, there were three or four more to take their place almost immediately. The gun and cannon fire along with the sheer numbers, even confined as they were, pushed us back.

Shinji and I, with what few samurai were left, retreated back to the edge of the city, where the other samurai gathered to protect Nakata’s mansion. The samurai had built a temporary barricade stretching across two streets to try to hold back the rogue samurai, but it would not hold for long. The mansion was just a few blocks behind us, so if the rogue samurai got ed us, they would reach the mansion and the innocent people inside.

I still could not hear out of my left ear, and the ringing only grew worse as the gun and cannon fire continued. Another cannonball exploded and I groaned as it shook the walls we stood behind and sprayed rubble everywhere.

A samurai, dressed in black, ran our direction and dove behind the walls for cover. I recognized him then as a messenger. “Tell us some good news,” Shinji muttered.

“Reinforcements have come from the capital of Sakamoto. They have come around behind the rogue samurai and are engaged in battle as we speak.” The messenger spoke quickly and quietly.

“Then why have the cannons not stopped? The reinforcements should have driven the rogue samurai back to fight them, not forward to fight us!” I clenched my teeth as I spoke.

Shinji glanced at the messenger. “Go and see what you can find out about the situation.”

The messenger inclined his head and took off down another alley.

Shinji glanced at me. “We have to lure the rogue samurai away from here. If this continues, they’ll break right through our defenses and straight into the mansion.”

I nodded. “What do you suggest?”

He glanced upward and almost immediately, I understood.

We only took two highly trained samurai with us. We sent them to a building across the street, while we went inside and climbed to the upper story of a higher building to the right of the barricade. Once we were at the top level, Shinji picked a window toward the back, away from the sight of the guns and cannons and began climbing onto the roof. I sheathed my katana and followed him. I was a great deal slower than he, mainly because of my injuries, but I caught up with him at the top.

We knelt on top of the shingles, just behind where the edge of the roof lightly curved upward in the typical style among our people. The curved edge gave us enough cover.

I looked at Shinji, shooting him a look that said, now what?

He smirked and then began to slipped to the right.

My eyes widened when I realized what he was doing, too late to stop him. He jumped from the roof we had been on, to one just a little lower down. He knelt, still in cover, but continued running, this time to the roof of a house across from his, which moved him that much closer to the rogue samurai.

I inhaled sharply, but followed him, jumping down to the roof on the right. I landed hard and bit my tongue to keep from grunting out loud as pain shot up my leg. Though I followed where he had gone, by the time I reached the roof across from where I had landed, he was already on another one, even closer to the rogue samurai.

By the time I reached the last roof, my muscles were nearly worn out, my hands and knees were scraped up, and my injuries, including my head, was causing me a great deal of pain. Shinji had already jumped down, landing amongst the rogue samurai and set to work cutting them down.

I jumped off the roof, allowing the familiar adrenaline of war rush through my veins. The adrenaline kept me from feeling most of the pain as I landed hard and had my katana unsheathed by the time my feet touched the ground. I danced around the men, slashing from left-to-right across a man’s stomach, and then from up-to-down across another man’s chest. Slicing outward, I cut down another man’s gun before he could fire it, then ducked to avoid fire coming from my right. I darted toward the building next to the one we had come from, and jumped off the wall. Landing on a rogue samurai’s chest, I stabbed my blade deep into his heart. Ducking to the ground, I quickly rolled to avoid more gunfire.

I winced as one of the shots grazed my arm, and then my right hip, but I knew I could not stay still. Sliding on my knees, I slashed outward with my katana to pierce a man’s lower abdomen, and then stabbed upwards into yet another samurai’s left rib cage. By that time, I had stopped sliding, so I quickly leapt to my feet and finally found the samurai who had been firing at me. With a quick lunge, I swung toward him, but he managed to dodge it.

Aiming his gun at me, the man prepared to shoot. Fortunately, I was quicker than him. My blade flashed as it sliced through his gun arm just above the elbow. When he grabbed it with a groan, I took the opportunity to jab toward him, but he slipped out of range of my weapon. The rogue samurai rushed to pick up his fallen gun. Darting toward him, I kicked his gun away from him at the same instant that I brought my katana in a diagonal downward attack, from his right shoulder to his left hip.

More fire continued all around me, and it was then that I ed I was not fighting alone. Three others had ed Shinji and I but nothing we did seemed to stop them. I found Shinji who shifted his eyes toward the nearest building from where we fought in the streets. I nodded, cutting down another samurai and sprinted toward it.

I went first, fighting our way into the building, though not many of the rogue samurai had been near it, while Shinji went last, holding off the fire from behind us.

“Get in!” I heard his voice call from behind. The moment I entered the building, I turned to see what had happened. I realized then that he had spoken to one of the other samurai who had been fighting with us. One of the men had gotten in with me, while the other had gotten shot and was fighting off a rogue samurai, who surprisingly wielded a katana and seemed to be well-trained.

Shinji dashed toward them, prepared to help, but he was too late.

One of the gunmen from the rogue samurai hid himself in a building, nearly impossible to see. It was not until he fired that I realized where he had been. The shot was so well placed that it missed the rogue samurai with the katana and hit the samurai he fought with in the head.

Shinji’s body went completely rigid. He started toward the katana-wielding rogue samurai and lunged toward him in one powerful, enraged strike.

No matter how trained the rogue samurai had been, he was no match for Shinji’s anger. His movements as he hurled himself toward the gunman were almost faster than I could follow.

“Shinji, no!” The man in the building had his gun aimed at Shinji and was only seconds away from firing.

I darted toward Shinji, despite the protests of the samurai behind me. Distantly, I realized he had followed me.

The gun exploded and my body slammed into something hard. More shots fired and I scrambled sideways to take cover underneath some rubble in the middle of the street.

I glanced at Shinji, unsure of what had even happened.

He was underneath me, fury in his cold eyes, but I did not see any fresh gun wound on him. “You idiot,” he hissed, and his voice was like thunder. He roughly grabbed me and shoved me toward the nearest building, as guns shot at us from the rogue samurai who, from the sounds of it, had us surrounded. Once inside the shop, I realized it was the one where the rogue samurai gunman had been hiding.

My heart sank when I saw the bodies on the floor and immediately realized what had happened. Somehow, the samurai who had followed me ran directly toward the shop, instead of toward Shinji as I had. He had put himself in the line of fire, directly taking most of the hits himself. Though he had been mortally wounded to his chest and stomach several times, the rogue gunman lay dead beside the samurai’s body.

Shinji stared at both of the bodies before looking at me again. His mouth went from a thin, firm line, to a frown.

I blinked, suddenly lightheaded, but pushed it aside. We were surrounded. I could not give in to the pain.

“You’ve been hit.”

I heard his voice as if from a distance. Glancing down, beyond my blood-soaked armor, I noticed a fresh wet spot, just below my right rib cage. The wound was not too deep, and though the worst of it seemed to have missed, I still felt dizzy and weak. “I am all right. We have to go. They have the place surrounded.”

Shinji nodded and moved into action. He shoved me forward, deeper into the shop. “We have to get back to the mansion.”

I nodded, too tired to respond. It was all I could to follow where he directed, which mostly consisted of him pushing me into the upper floor. Unfortunately, this shop only had two floors, which meant the roof was lower to the ground than what I was comfortable with. Once we were on the roof, we climbed up onto the roof of a building to our left. The shop we had been in was next to a taller building to our right, which thankfully blocked the gun fire from reaching us. We continued moving left, as far away from where most of the rogue samurai had gathered. Minutes later, we landed on the ground and jogged through an alley until we came out to the barricade.

Rogue samurai were all around, fighting against our samurai from behind the barrier. Cannonballs went off in a stream then, and the earth shook so badly that once I fell, I could not stand back up. Buildings and shops collapsed, rock and rubble covered everything. Dust flew into my eyes and my ears rang with the sounds of guns and cannons, and though they were loud, they were not enough to block out the screams of the people, the sounds of the dead and the dying all around.

“You have to get up, woman!” Shinji’s voice was angry and loud in my right ear. He yanked me to my feet and ran with me, back toward the mansion.

When I glanced behind us, the barricade had been blown to pieces, and the rogue samurai stormed through the city. They ran into shops and buildings, pulling people out into the streets, beating them, or lining them up and firing at them endlessly. They set the buildings ablaze as they went, destroying and killing anyone or anything that they saw.

Up ahead, the mansion was already on fire, and the sounds of guns and men yelling and screaming came from there as well. I staggered toward it, desperate to help the children and the women who were in hiding there.

Shinji’s iron grip around my waist and arms kept me from heading that way. He shoved me into an alley, one that had been mostly untouched thus far. “You can’t help them now. The city is already lost. Right now, what you can do is live to fight another day, and help the rest of the people that this army will come after next.”

The shrieks of women crying in agony echoed around in my ear. Children screaming and calling out mixed with the yells and shouts of fighting samurai and the twisted shouts of glee from the rogue samurai, to form a harmonious chorus of horror and pain.

“They’re torturing and slaughtering these people….” My voice was hoarse and nothing but a whisper.

“This is war not fought with dignity and honor, but with cowardice and cruelty. We have to go.”

I glared at him. “How can we run and call ourselves samurai? We should be out there fighting!”

“They’ve already started this war, and it’s no longer about dying with honor. To fight them, we will have to abandon old traditions and flee, to live. We can’t win

if our deaths mean nothing. Your duty is to your Emperor and right now, this army will continue until someone stops them. You can’t die now, and abandon your Emperor and your people to this, can you?”

Though his words deeply affected me, and I did not know the true answer, I nodded. The army would continue, striking every town and city, every home between Tanazaki and the capital unless we lived to fight them another time and stopped them once and for all.

Shinji grabbed my waist and shoved me out of the shop. Together we ran through the city as it was sacked, destroyed, and burnt to ash.

Chapter Thirteen

MEGUMI

It was several days before a messenger brought news of what had happened at Tanazaki.

I knelt at a low table before the council, who gathered around me. The messenger bowed low to the ground, then rose at my command and began to recite the details of the attack.

“The rogue army raised an unknown flag. After investigating into it more, your watchmen discovered that they serve the Iwashita Clan army, in secret. Somehow, they had cannons in their possession, although it was not discovered how. They began their assault on the farms close to the Iwashita and Sakamoto Clan borders. They killed hundreds of farmers, and burned down thousands of acres of land in the rice fields. It took them several days before they were able to march to Tanazaki, burning homes and more farms along the way. They surrounded the city and after a period of only a few hours, stormed it once it was well into the night. The siege lasted all night and most of the dawn. General Kurosawa and his samurai arrived from the capital after the siege had started and came around behind the rogue samurai army. With our reinforcements, they should have been defeated, but they had reinforcements as well. Our army was defeated, leaving the other rogue samurai to overtake the city. They sacked the city, and then burnt it to the ground, including the ports and all of the fishing ships and boats. Hundreds of people are dead or missing. The Shogun of Tanazaki, Nakata Yashiro, took up a katana and fought until his life met its end in battle. General Kurosawa chose to commit seppuku after he and the reinforcements failed to save the city and its people.”

I clenched my teeth to force back the gasp that threatened to surface and forced my eyes to stay away from Ryosuke. To hear of his father’s death in a formal meeting… without the chance to have seen his father or even to have been there for him…

The messenger looked at me, as did the rest of the council, expecting me to speak.

“The defeat of Tanazaki is a great loss, but even greater is the loss of High General Kurosawa. He was brave, honorable, and loyal until the very end. He followed the way of the warrior, and was a true samurai. Have there been any survivors?”

The messenger shook his head before answering. “No, Empress Sakamoto. If there is, they were either captured, or are in hiding.”

I nodded. “We must send scouts to find any survivors and lead them to safety. After that, our top priority is to stop the army from taking another city. Where are they now?”

“It is believed they have stopped to resupply and to tend to the injured. They may have taken the city, but they suffered great losses. Your samurai fought bravely, Empress.”

The advisor to my left, Koike Nobuo, spoke up. “What of the loss of food? We have lost the majority of our rice fields and one of the main fishery cities and

trading ports. There is only one more city left that can provide us with fresh seafood, but no way for us to get rice or to grow any of our own food.”

I narrowed my eyes, deep in thought. “We must seek aid from one of the other clans. If they will help us, we might be able to survive. In exchange, we will offer them loyalty and trade.”

Koike frowned. “After the incident of our late Emperor, it will be difficult for many of the clans to offer aid.”

“They pledged their loyalty to me when I became Empress. If they are honorable men, they will help us.”

A scrawny man who set two places to my left, called Tezuka Hisashi, spoke up in response. “Empress Sakamoto, with your permission, allow me to speak with the other clan leaders and arrange a meeting between you and them.”

I nodded. “I leave the task to you.” I paused, and glanced around the room. “In case we cannot receive aid, we must also send men to the farms to look for survivors, as well as see if any of the fields can be saved. We will have to ration to conserve on food to outlast the winter.”

The leader of our watchmen, a man named Asano Kazuo, spoke up. “Allow me to send a few of my men to search the farms, Empress Sakamoto. I will accompany them as well, with your permission.”

I nodded. “That task is set to you. Finally, we must stop the army, especially now that they are recuperating.”

“Empress Sakamoto, with all due respect, it will be difficult to fight against them after losing so many men ourselves. And with no High General to lead our samurai….” It was Asano who had spoken.

Again, I forced myself to keep my eyes off Ryosuke. “Then, as is custom, his son, Kurosawa Ryosuke, should take his place.” Koike glanced at me, as if waiting for my command.

I could not help but glance at Ryosuke. His expression was carefully neutral; emotionless. He bowed his head to me in respect. “Empress Sakamoto, should you will it, I will take my father’s place as High General.”

I swallowed deeply. More than anything, I hated to have to force that burden upon him, but I had to uphold our traditions, especially in the eyes of the council. And…. Deep inside, I knew it was what his father would have wanted. “Then, the position is yours, Kurosawa Ryosuke.”

He bowed deeply then, his face near the floor as he spoke. “I am honored, Empress Sakamoto, and I promise to follow the way of the warrior and serve you, as my father did before me.”

“Thank you very much, High General Kurosawa.” Though we had not held the official ceremony yet, he had every right to bear his father’s name and title.

After I dismissed the council and stood, the messenger bowed deeply to the floor and did not leave. “What is it?” I asked him.

“With your permission, Empress Sakamoto, I would have a word with you alone.” Ryosuke hesitated at the door, watching the messenger and I carefully.

Sensing his unrest, I spoke to him. “General Kurosawa, will you stay as well?”

He inclined his head toward me. “As you command, Empress.”

“Please stand.” The messenger stood, but glanced at Ryosuke and hesitated. “Whatever you must say, it can be said in front of the High General.”

“Of course, Empress.” The messenger’s eyes said what his words did not; that Ryosuke was not High General just yet. “Somehow, the rogue army discovered of our incoming reinforcements and had time to prepare their own reinforcements to counter.”

“What are you saying?” I asked him.

“Someone betrayed us.” Ryosuke’s tone was husky and bitter.

The messenger nodded.

“But only the council knew of our decision to send our samurai to the city,” I pointed out.

The messenger nodded. “That is what I am saying, Empress. You were betrayed. You have a spy in your midst.”

Chapter Fourteen

AKARI

We did not stop for many hours. When we did, it was only because my body finally collapsed from exhaustion, fatigue, and blood loss. Shinji and I had both sustained multiple injuries, though none were fatal. Both of us had several scratches and bruises from all the debris, and a few burns as we had fought our way through the burning city. His side and left arm had been grazed by a gun shot, and my right hip, right arm, and left shoulder had as well. My right elbow had been stabbed with some debris, and though the wound was deep, it did not affect the swing of my katana or the nerves in my arm, fortunately. At one point, I had gotten too close to falling debris, and my head had been hit, on the left side just above my ear, causing my ear to ring.

Eventually the ringing died down, especially once Shinji stopped the bleeding, and though noises were slightly muffled, at least I could hear out of it again. The worst of our injuries was a slash Shinji had sustained to his lower back, and the gunshot wound I had near my right rib cage. My breathing was fine, which meant it had missed my lungs, thankfully. I told Shinji which plants to use for medicine and binding, ones that grew only in Sakamoto borders, not Iwashita borders. He used the plants to bind up the wounds that bled the most, and then boiled other ones over a fire to make a paste out of. He removed his layered kimono enough to uncover his chest and back.

His muscles were sharp and defined. My eyes hesitated a second too long on his exposed back. “Quit gawking at me, woman or I’ll bleed out.” Even without seeing his face, I could hear the smirk in his voice.

I finished the paste and applied it to the wound so that it would heal. Then, I used what was left of the plants to bind up the slash on his back. Shinji had taken off his outer kamishimo earlier and had it torn up. We used it for pieces of cloth to wrap our wounds in. Now, I took a piece of it in my hands and wrapped it around him tightly. I was well aware each and every time my hands lightly brushed across his skin, either on his back or his abdomen. I tied the cloth off and backed away from him, clearing my throat. “Your wound is taken care of.”

He turned around while replacing the layers of his kimono.

Thankfully, I had not been forced to remove my kimono for him to completely see the wound on my right side. The debris had torn my kimono in several places, and the gunshot wound had created a hole, which Shinji had torn open to make room for his fingers to close up the wound.

He glanced at me with an unusual expression on his face, one that I could not read. I could not come up with anything to say, and he seemed content for silence. I cleared my throat, and spoke only to ease the awkwardness that had begun to form.

We both ended up speaking at the same time.

“Go ahead.” He gestured for me to speak with a wave of his hand.

I nodded. “What now?”

He smirked. “At least tell me you know where we are.”

I glanced around, although I did not know specifics, I knew the approximate area of where we were. “With the army nearby, it would be best to avoid the main road, but we need to reach the capital as quickly as possible. If we can find the river and head north, it will lead us to a divided road, and from there we can head east toward the capital.”

Shinji nodded and his eyes said what my mind had been thinking: was it wise for him, the prince of Iwashita, to go to the very heart of his enemies, the capital of Sakamoto?

Could I trust him there, amongst my home and the people I had lived with since I was a child?

He had saved my life countless times the previous night, and I had returned the favor, but he had only done so because he appeared to be a true samurai, and his honor would not have allowed him to let the army get away with what they had done. But how far would his honor go? How far would his loyalty to his clan stretch?

I did not know the answers to any of those questions. In his eyes in that moment, I sensed that he did not know, either.

***

After we had rested, we began retracing our footsteps through the forest until we came to the river. We did not want to come too close to Tanazaki, in case the army had made camp there, but part of me wanted to find out if anyone else had survived. We eventually found the river, and though we kept it within eyesight, we stayed in the trees in case any rogue samurai came around. It was many days before the river led us to the road we needed and we followed it to the capital. Our wounds healed, at least outwardly in my case. In my sleep I could not stop hearing the screams of the dying, the shrieks of the women and children, the faces of the rogue samurai, the sadistic thrill in their eyes, the blood pooling on the ground, and the blood on my own katana.

Shinji had begun to notice that I had not been sleeping well, and mentioned it as we followed the road to the capital. I had picked that road for a reason; it was a way to the capital that was less traveled, which meant we were less likely to encounter any rogue samurai along the way.

“You haven’t been sleeping.”

I glanced at him as we walked. “I will sleep more soundly when I return home.”

He gave me a look that suggested he did not believe me. “You’re a samurai; you understand the consequences of war. You know as well as I do that it doesn’t just affect the warriors who fight it, but their homes, their families…. You understand what war really means, but that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.”

I glanced down. “I was raised as a samurai. My father lives his life following bushido… but also in believing that life is precious… all life. Respecting those around him, even to the point of the enemies he fights. He will kill if he is called

to, but he does not relish or enjoy it. He holds regret and sorrow for the lives he takes. I was raised as a warrior… I understand the consequences of war; because of who my father is, I understand it better than most. I will do my duty as I am called to, even more so if it means protecting the people. Though I cherish life, and do not enjoy killing, and even try to avoid it if at all possible, I did not mind killing the rogue samurai in Tanazaki. I just… I do not understand how they could torture all the innocent and untrained people in Tanazaki. They fought cruelly, and without honor… How can they call themselves samurai?” I clenched my teeth, though I was not sure if it was in anger, or because I wanted to keep from saying any more. I looked at Shinji, sure that he did not care for what I was rambling about, but when I looked at him, his steady gaze met mine.

His eyes were serious, and his mouth was neither smirking, nor frowning. “All life is precious? I can understand taking value and cherishing our lives as they us by, but all men must die. That is why we must enjoy the time that we are given… every moment… because soon, it will be over.” He looked at the cherry blossoms as he spoke, and though there were only a few along the road we traveled on, they were still a wonder to gaze at.

“All men must die, yes. But does that mean we should not feel anything for those who die around us?”

Shinji shrugged. “Death comes to us all in the end. It’s only a matter of when and how. I do not fear death for myself; why should I fear death for others as well?”

I thought about what he said. “I do not fear death either; I know where I am going when I die. But as for others…. It is not so much that I fear death for them, as I feel sorrow and pain for a life taken too soon, taken unfairly.”

Shinji furrowed his eyebrows. “You believe in an afterlife?”

It was not something I or my family spoke about to others; it did not put our lives in danger, but it was still frowned upon, so I had grown accustomed to keeping that part of my life a secret.

For some reason, I felt I could be honest with Shinji. Something inside me compelled me to speak. At last, I nodded. “Yes. I believe in God—the One True God. I know where I will go when I die, and because I am a samurai, even if I did not believe in God, still, I would not fear death. My father raised me to be loyal to my Emperor, and to my comrades around me; to have honor and respect. But he also raised me to believe that life is precious, not just mine or the lives of my loved ones, but all life. He taught me that even though I was a samurai, my katana should always be a last resort. I should do my duty, what I am commanded to do, but I should always try to avoid taking a life if at all possible. Killing is not something to enjoy, nor is it something to relish in. From my point of view, an enemy may be evil or wrong, but from his point of view, or in the eyes of his family, he is not. In taking his life, I have robbed someone else of a life they cherished. If it had been done to me, I would be left with a loss, so why bring that loss to someone else? I firmly believe in treating others the same way that I want to be treated.”

Shinji frowned. “How can you live by that rule and follow bushido?”

I smiled, shaking my head. “It is not easy. Most people would see my beliefs as contradicting each other, but in many ways, they go hand-in-hand with one another.”

“How so?” I was surprised he had asked at all. Most, especially someone from the Iwashita Clan, would not have wanted to hear about my beliefs at all.

“You know that bushido encourages us to be kind, frugal, and honest, to have integrity, as well as to be loyal and self-sacrificing. It holds the principles that we live our lives by. It is why we do not fear death, why we have honor and respect, why we train as hard as we do, why we use our katanas, why they are a part of us, a part of who we are. God calls us to love. When you love someone, you honor them, you respect them and their beliefs. When you love someone, you are loyal to them, you protect them, they inspire you and make you want to be better. When you love, you are kind to them and honest. To me, what I am called to do as a samurai, and what I do because I love God, are the same thing.”

Shinji looked deep in thought. His expression was something I had not seen on his face before. After staring at him longer, I realized he was surprised. It quickly changed to a smirk before he chuckled. “I didn’t know you could be so insightful, woman.”

I glared at him.

“Sorry,” he said with a grin. “Seriously, not that I know much about… believers, but I’d always assumed there was more to it. Some complicated ritual or something.”

I smiled, and then shrugged. “Many do, but when it comes down to it… it is much simpler.”

“If you’re called to love, and taught to respect life, why are you even a samurai? As a samurai, your katana is a part of you. You use it to kill… to take life. That’s something that only someone who has ever taken one could understand.”

I nodded. “That is where most see my beliefs as contradicting. If one is to live by the sword, they will die by the sword. Both of my beliefs know that to be true. My katana is as much a part of me as God is. I have chosen to live by the sword, and have accepted that I will die by it.”

Shinji nodded, and though the movement was so simple, with him, it was much more. It was a way of signifying a deeper understanding of my words. An acceptance that he had agreed upon long ago, as well as I had.

After a few minutes of silence, I glanced at him again. “Have you given up in trying to capture me?”

He grinned and his eyes narrowed teasingly. “I’ve captured you already, woman. I can’t give up on something I’ve already done.”

I turned away from him before he noticed my expression. My cheeks had grown hot and I was certain I was blushing. “I meant, why are you still here? You obviously have no intention of taking me back to Iwashita borders.” I quickly glanced back at him.

There was something in his expression that I could not read, something deeper that I did not understand. “With all that’s happened, and an army in your clan’s borders, it wouldn’t be right of me to leave you. You’re still injured and there’s a long road ahead. I’ll see you to the capital safely.”

Why all of the sudden had he fixated on trying to get me home safely? He was

the one who had captured me and brought me away from it in the first place.

He must have seen the confusion and anger on my expression, because he asked, “What is it that’s really bothering you?”

I sighed, finally giving in. I had not wished to bring it up, but could not keep silent since we were drawing closer and closer to the capital. “Why would the prince of the Iwashita Clan help a samurai of his enemy? Why go to the very heart of your enemy, if not for ill intent?”

He narrowed his eyes and they became cold and hard. His mouth became a thin, firm line. Within an instant, it was gone, and his features became expressionless. “What? So, running away with you wasn’t enough for you to take a hint?”

Though his tone was sarcastic and teasing, what I had seen on his face seconds earlier had not been. He was hiding something… something that clearly bothered him, but he did not seem as if he was going to talk about it anytime soon. “I have a difficult time believing that you are staying simply because you enjoy my company.”

He smirked. “I can’t argue with that. I can have any woman I want.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and sighed, walking ed him. On down the road, I realized I was not going to accomplish anything by asking him questions. He never gave a straight answer and preferred secrecy to honesty.

“What, woman, you jealous?” His tone was still full of sarcasm, but this time it was half-hearted.

“How can I be jealous of something I do not desire?”

He had already caught up with me and he chuckled. “You’re jealous simply because it is what you desire.”

I looked at him, stopping mid-stride. “You are my enemy. I desire neither you, nor any of your people.”

He crossed his arms, glaring back at me, though his smirk matched the sparkle in his eyes. “Whatever happened to showing respect for your enemies? Besides, I saved you several times.”

“Respect, not desire!” It was my turn to cross my arms. “I would be a fool to believe that just because you saved me once, meant that you would completely sever all loyalty to your clan. You are a fierce samurai, and a skilled fighter, but you do have honor. You would not relinquish loyalty to your own clan so quickly.”

He shrugged, uncrossing his arms.

“What is it that you believe in, Shinji? Besides death?”

“Honor.” That one word sounded not only like a declaration, but a promise. I was not sure what it was the word held for him, but it was something significant; even more than what it held to normal samurai.

Chapter Fifteen

MEGUMI

Though it had only been a few short weeks since I had become Empress, I already missed training. Because I was now of higher importance, it was against the law for me to train; I had samurai for that. Anyone caught fighting me would be executed, even if it was something I ordered. Even I, as Empress, was not above the law.

Ryosuke, as well, had not been to the palace dojo in, what seemed like, a long time. He was caught up with the duties his father had left behind, getting new recruits and preparing the full army.

I desperately needed to speak with him. I did not know who I could trust, therefore I did not feel comfortable going to anyone else for advice. My mind even suggested I should not trust Ryosuke, although my heart disagreed greatly.

I spent time studying each advisor closely. Koike had not taken the place of Okada after he had been killed, though I knew he desperately wanted to. Okada’s position as Chief Advisor had been left open for his daughter whenever she returned. I did not know if the lack of promotion was enough for Koike to betray me and his entire clan, but then again, he was not a samurai and did not follow bushido.

Tezuka was a man who had mastered the art of speech, and though he knew the

ways of the sword, he preferred fight his battles with wisdom and words. It would be easy for him to talk his way into the trust of another clan, and easier still for him to lie to me and the council.

Asano, on the other hand, was a fierce samurai. He and his family had been loyal to the Sakamoto for generations. He was the same age as Kurosawa had been and he and Ryosuke’s father had been close friends. They had even trained in the same dojo together as children. It seemed unlikely that he would go against bushido, against the beliefs and clan that he had always held dear, but when it came to betrayal, I could not take it past anyone. Until the spy was found, I would have to make all decisions on my own and simply announce my decision to the council after preparations had already been made.

I was playing a dangerous game, one I was not sure if I could win.

***

Hours later, Ryosuke met me in the council chambers. He came on official business only, informing me of the state of the army. Out of the three hundred samurai I had sent, only forty had come back alive. Out of the forty, nineteen were injured, four of them mortally wounded, and three were unlikely to ever wield a katana again.

“This leaves us how many samurai here?” I asked him.

“Seven-hundred and thirty-two, Empress.” Ryosuke’s voice was strictly business, firm and deep.

I nodded solemnly. “How many of those are skilled samurai?”

“Only five-hundred and twenty, Empress. The rest are new recruits that have ed within the past three months.”

I pursed my lips, deep in thought. “We cannot expect to fight against guns with katanas, with only a little over seven hundred men. What would you suggest, General?”

Ryosuke glanced up at me, surprisingly meeting my gaze. “Empress, I would suggest training the men we have and taking the time to expand our ranks before retaliating. It would be pointless to a fight we know we cannot win.”

“You suggest I leave my people to the wrath of the rogue army?”

Ryosuke looked down, bowing to the ground. “Forgive me, Empress, but without the help of other clans….”

I swallowed deeply. “I know.”

“Our only other option would be conscription, but men who are forced into combat have no loyalty. They are dishonorable and would flee at any given chance.” Ryosuke rose up from his bow, gazing in my direction, but not at me specifically.

“No. That goes against everything my father believed in, and everything against what I was taught as a samurai.”

Ryosuke’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

I glanced at the two samurai watching the door in the back and Chiaki, the young servant girl, kneeling behind me. “The rest of you, leave the General and I alone. We will be discussing plans unfit for your ears.”

The samurai both bowed and opened the doors, as Chiaki bowed and followed them out. Once we were alone, I met Ryosuke’s gaze. “Speak freely now, Ryosuke.”

His eyes appeared so distant when they met mine. “With all due respect, you are no longer a samurai. You are an Empress… my Empress. Your duty now is to your people and your clan. Temporarily, forcefully recruiting men may seem abrupt and unnecessary, and may even anger a few, but in the long run, it will be the only thing to save your clan. Should it be your only option, Empress, you would be wise to consider it.”

I narrowed my eyes in deep thought and confusion. “You just spoke of that being unhelpful and now you are leaning toward it?”

Ryosuke frowned. “Men can be trained, Empress, but you cannot bring back lives once they are gone.”

“In training them I would be forcing them to their deaths!”

“It is the price of war, Megumi, if others are to survive.”

I stood up, unable to contain my anger any longer. “What happened to the lessons your father taught you, Ryosuke? The very same lessons you guided me to understand as you trained me? The way of the warrior is something that is chosen—not forced upon an unwilling soul!”

He stood then, towering over me by nearly a foot, matching what I was sure was on my expression with one of his own. “I am not just a samurai training with you anymore, Megumi. I am a High General with hundreds of men under my protection and control. It is my place to advise you in the affairs of war, to help guide you on the path that is best for the people, that leads to your survival. I have my father’s legacy to uphold, as well as your life in my hands and my hands alone.”

I found myself unable to meet his gaze. I blinked several times, willing myself not to cry. “Then, as your Empress, High General, I will heed your advice as a last resort.” My voice was cold and distant in my own ears; it was too formal and commanding.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Ryosuke bowed to me deeply. “Thank you very much, Empress. Is there anything else you need from me while I’m here?”

Yes, I thought. I want to know how you are dealing with your father’s death because I am not dealing with my own. I want you to hold me and never let me go. I want to be able to train with you again, and laugh with you again. I want things back to the way they were.

“The spy,” I said, keeping my tone strict and authoritative. “What are your thoughts about that?”

“I have not found out any more information, other than what the messenger, Toshi, spoke of. It is difficult to say; any of the men in the council is capable of betrayal.”

“What of Asano? Surely he is not!”

Ryoske creased his eyebrows in the center thoughtfully. “I would not think so, but you cannot trust anyone, Empress. These are dangerous times.” His expression finished what he would not say out loud: that my father had been betrayed by his own nephew. “I will not let the same happen to you, Empress Sakamoto.”

Though his tone was formal, when his eyes gazed into mine, they held an old expression I had not seen from him in a long time; belief in me and what I could do, confidence and promise.

I slightly inclined my head. “Thank you very much, General.”

As soon as I had spoken, a voice called from the other side of the doors. “Empress Sakamoto, forgive me, but Okada Akari is here to see you,” Chiaki said.

“Let her in,” I commanded. Ryosuke immediately backed up and returned to his kneeling position on the mat and I did so as well. As soon as I had settled my legs beneath me, a woman about my age, dirty and covered in dried blood, with stern and assertive eyes, and long, straight hair that reached her waist, entered the room. Okada’s daughter. Akari had an air of confidence about her and I knew her skills as a samurai was nearly unmatched. She was a beautiful woman, although her time as a samurai had added an edge to that beauty with the scars on her face and neck. She also had the look of wisdom well beyond her years.

“Princess Sakamoto, forgive me, but I assumed I would be taken to see Emperor Sakamoto?”

I swallowed deeply. “My father and mother have been assassinated. I now rule as their only heir.”

Akari’s eyes widened and she bowed deeply. “My apologies, I did not know, Empress Sakamoto. I am sorry to hear of your father’s death. He was a great leader.”

I hesitated before answering. She obviously did not know about her own parents. “Thank you very much, Okada.”

She must have heard something in my tone, because she glanced up. “What is it that you are not saying, Empress?”

I glanced down, before looking at her straight in the eyes. “I am so sorry, Akari… But your parents were both assassinated as well.”

Chapter Sixteen

AKARI

I could only stare at Megumi in shock. I blinked several times, so sure I had not heard correctly. “Wh…what?”

She looked at the samurai at the door. “Please, leave us alone.” The samurai behind me, as well as the young servant girl, both of whom had entered the room to let me in, left the room. Another man, a samurai, I only briefly recognized, stayed in the room. Megumi, now an Empress, met my gaze with a steady, yet sorrowful gaze of her own. “My parents, as well as yours, were all assassinated several weeks ago. My father was betrayed by my own cousin, Tatsuya. I am so sorry… especially that you had to find out this way, and so long after it had happened.”

For the longest time I could not move or think of anything to say in response. Eventually, it was all I could do to force myself to bow to her in respect. “Forgive me, Empress. I need some time alone.”

She nodded. “Take as long as you need, Okada.”

I nodded and, briefly glancing at the man, left the room. I politely slid the shoji shut and walked at a carefully normal pace through the winding hallways until I reached the shoji that led into the outer courtyard. Once there, I walked past the gates, where two samurai watched me, but did not stop me as I left. As soon as I

was on the main road, I ran as fast as I could through the streets, around the people still bustling about, in and out of alleyways until I could not breathe. My legs shook so badly that I had to stop. The moment I did, I collapsed on the ground. I leaned against the wall behind me, putting my knees up to my chest. My hands shook, but I wrapped them around my knees and clenched my wrists tightly.

“What happened?”

At the sound of a voice, I flinched in surprise, but looked up to see Shinji standing at the alleyway entrance, watching me. I had completely forgotten that I had made him wait in a group of trees just outside the palace gates. He must have seen and followed me. “The... Emperor has been assassinated.” I had to force the words from my mouth, and my voice sounded strained.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m assuming my clan was behind it?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “How would you know?” Standing to my feet, I gently placed my right hand over the hilt of my katana, while my left hand held the saya it rested in.

He did not look the least bit concerned. “My father has a secret faction of his army march in to begin taking towns in your clan’s borders, got his hands on cannons and guns for his army, and now, all of the sudden, your emperor ends up dead? My father was involved.”

My right hand shook. I clenched it around my sword to keep it still. “Emperor Sakamoto’s own nephew betrayed him.” I spoke through clenched teeth.

“My father is good at turning people against one another.” For just a second, it almost sounded as if he was bitter, but it was gone before I could think anything of it. “As a samurai, losing your emperor is… difficult.”

I drew my katana just an inch from its saya. If he saw, he made no effort to move. I could no longer contain my rage. I unsheathed the blade and held it at his throat. Still, he made no effort to move, or unsheathe his own weapon. “The Emperor’s wife, along with my father, who advised him, and my mother, were assassinated as well.”

His eyes widened a fraction of an inch. “And now, what? You plan to attack me to seek revenge for your dead parents?”

“Shut up!” Anger took hold of me and I could no longer control my actions. The words were a growl as I lunged toward him. He slid to the left, dodging the attack swiftly, though I still managed to slightly nick him. I slid my right foot forward and continued the movement to my right, as I turned in an attempt to slice his chest.

He leapt backwards, out of range of my blade. Stepping toward him, I swung from left-to-right, but he managed to dodge once again. His evasions only fueled my anger and drove me to lunge closer toward him. Somehow, he was able to catch my sword in both his hands as I tried to stab his chest. His hands smoothly held either side of my blade with perfect precision.

Using his power and strength, he jabbed it back toward me which loosened my grip on the hilt ever-so-slightly. Unable to back away, I gasped as the hilt drove into my stomach, knocking my breath out. As I doubled over, he charged toward

me, kicking my left wrist hard enough to knock my katana to the ground. Without hesitation, he grabbed both of my wrists with his hands and slammed my back against the wall behind me. He pinned my wrists to the wall on either side of my face and leaned in close.

This did not stop me from kicking out at him and though I hit his left thigh, he just slammed me against the wall again.

I grunted, more in frustration than in anything else, and slammed my head into his.

He cursed and I slipped my right arm from his and nearly ran, but he grabbed me around the waist and tackled me to the ground. I pushed against his wrists, twisting and kicking at him, but he simply stayed above me and kept me pinned. His grip on my wrists tightened and he pressed his body against mine firmly. I tried to kick, to push him away, to continue fighting, but I could not move at all.

I was powerless against him.

He did not say or do anything, even as I struggled against him. It was only when I had finally calmed down and stopped fighting, that he spoke.

“You done, woman?”

I glared up at him, but I lost the energy, and felt my eyes relax. “Why are you doing this?”

He smirked and his eyes lazily watched me. “I happen to like feisty women. Normal ones just get boring.”

My body was too tired, too angry from the death of my parents at the hands of the Iwashita, to roll my eyes at him as I normally would have. “I meant, why betray your own clan, for me, a woman you barely know? You wanted me for ransom, but when you realized you wouldn’t get it, despite what… the men were going to do, why betray them to save me from it? Why allow me to take my anger out on you?”

“I told you before, there is no honor in what they had planned... in what my father was going to allow.”

“You’re the prince of the Iwashita Clan. What do you know of honor?”

He glared at me then, his eyes cold, his lips a thin line. “More than anyone can ever know.” His voice became empty of emotion, much like it had when he had spoken his father’s name, though I had not known it at the time. It was terrifying. There was no anger, or bitterness behind it, just emptiness.

There was a silence then, one that I did not know how to fill. It was becoming difficult to bear, when he finally spoke at last. “Don’t try to run or fight?” Though it was a statement, he phrased it like a question.

Slowly, though I nodded.

He released his hold on my wrists and leapt to his feet, holding out a hand to help me stand. I ignored it and stood, so that we were about a foot or so apart. He began undoing the layers of his kimono, carefully keeping it tucked inside his hakama.

My eyes widened and despite what I had said, I started to shift to my left.

He rolled his eyes. “Shouldn’t you know by now that I would never try that? Just shut up and stay still, will you?” I was not sure how to answer to that, so I just stayed silent, but I obeyed. Once his chest was exposed, he turned around.

I bit my lip to hold in a gasp. As a samurai, he had many scars; even a few on his face and neck. His chest as well, had many battle scars.

But this…

This was not from battle.

I realized I had not noticed before because of the blood that had coated him, but now that the blood was gone… His whole back was painted with jagged, ugly scars. What once had obviously been handsome had been masked by whatever horror he had been through. There were too many for my eyes to count, some that overlapped, others that stood out. After staring, I realized that they were from a whip.

He slowly pulled the layers of his kimono back over his chest and turned around. “I’ve been through loss as well. What you saw was the response of a coward. I’ve learned what happens when you unleash your anger without purpose.”

I swallowed deeply. It had been a punishment, then. His expression was void of anger or hate, and he simply crossed his arms and leaned against the wall opposite the one I stood at. That was all he was going to say. In that moment, I realized that he had allowed me to release my anger on him, to keep me from lashing out at anyone else, and doing something rash and foolish.

I had never been more grateful to him than I did in that moment.

***

The next morning, I was taken to a private room with Megumi. It was only her and I, and we both sat on mats facing each other, our legs tucked underneath us.

She smiled gently at me. “Now that we are alone, I would like to tell you that in private, if you wish, you may call me Megumi. We have known each other for quite some time.”

I inclined my head. “Thank you very much. It is an honor, Megumi. You, as well, may call me Akari.”

She inclined her head. “Thank you very much. Unfortunately, onto political discussion.” She sighed, though it was so light, I was not sure if I had imagined

it. “My own cousin, Sakamoto Tatsuya, betrayed my father. A few of the men in his division were captured and questioned. It was discovered that he was working for the Iwashita Clan as a spy for some time. He fled the city, but I have men in search of him and any more of the samurai under his command.”

I narrowed my eyes and fought to keep my fists from clenching in Megumi’s presence. She had always been so gentle and full of ion. Though she only had her right arm and had been born without a left one below her shoulder, she had spent time training with a shortened katana. I had never seen her fight, but could not imagine that she got any power behind her attacks with only one arm.

Now, she faced me, confident, yet full of grace and a light gentleness beneath the authoritative expression she kept on her face.

“Do we know why he betrayed us?” I asked at last.

She shook her head. “It is still unknown.” After a short moment of silence, she continued. “As is custom, since you are your father’s only heir, will you take his place as my Chief Advisor?”

The question took me by surprise. I knew the tradition, but it had slipped my mind. I bowed, low to the ground. “I could never take my father’s place, and what he did for his clan.”

“No, but I would be grateful to have you. A lot has happened in these past few weeks. There is very few I can trust.”

I rose up and looked at her. It was hard to see, but only a slight furrow of her right eyebrow gave away the worry she hid so well. I nodded. “Then it would be my honor to accept my father’s position and seat on the council, as your Chief Advisor.”

She smiled. “I hope I can trust you, Akari.”

“I will always do what I can to uphold what my father believed in.” I met her gaze.

“Then you should know just what exactly you are coming into. When I had given the order for reinforcements, the only ones who were present were the of the council. Somehow, at Tanazaki, the opposing army heard of our reinforcements coming and had time to prepare.”

I gasped and then glanced at the ground, clenching my teeth. “That is why they continued fighting inside the city.”

“What do you mean?”

I quickly told her how I had been on the outskirts of a farm when it was attacked and learned of their plans to march on Tanazaki. After that, I filled her in on the events that had taken place during the battle. “As soon as I escaped the city, I made my way back to the capital to inform my father.” I swallowed deeply. I did not tell her about Shinji. Despite that I was still unsure of where his loyalties were, I did not feel that telling the Empress of his involvement would be the best thing yet.

She nodded. “You are lucky to have survived. High General Kurosawa, who led the reinforcements, committed seppuku.”

My eyes widened when I realized who the man was who had been with us when I had first met with Megumi—the High General’s son. “I am sorry to hear of his death, though I am glad that he died with his honor.”

She nodded. Her expression changed and her eyes became downcast with something, but before I could tell what it was, it was gone, replaced by the mask she often kept in place.

“If they knew that reinforcements were coming, then one of the council had to have informed the rogue army.” I narrowed my eyes, trying to think of the men I knew were on the council, but I could not any of their names.

She nodded. “There is a spy among us. I am not sure who it is, though I and General Kurosawa, who has taken his father’s place as High General, are looking into it.”

I nodded. “I do not know much about any of the councilmen, but I will do what I can as well, Megumi.”

“Thank you very much, Akari.”

I inclined my head in response.

“If you do not mind me asking, what was it you were doing along the border?”

I paused, and decided to tell her the truth, or at least the truth without Shinji’s part in what happened. “My father sent me on a scouting mission on orders from the High General himself. I was to the few watchmen samurai gathered at the border and keep an eye on what the Iwashita Clan was doing while the Meeting of the Clans was taking place. I was sent to my position, where all remained relatively quiet.”

“Until…?”

“Until one of the Iwashita Clan attacked me and took me across the border. I saw the entire Iwashita army just ed the borders. They were preparing for war. I do not think it will be long before they march into our borders, especially with the rogue army they sent into the farm lands and Tanazaki. They will be ing the rogue army soon. I managed to escape and find my way back across the border. I stopped to rest on the outskirts of the farmland, just as it was attacked. And, well, you know the rest.”

“I am sorry to hear of your capture, but I am glad you managed to escape. This…. I knew the Iwashita were hostile, but to gather up their army, behind our backs, when they were supposed to have been talking with my father about peace…” Her voice trailed off and she seemed lost in her own thoughts.

“Individuals are not always who we think they are, Empress.”

She nodded solemnly. “Yes, I have come to realize that, Akari.”

“So have I, Megumi. So have I.”

Chapter Seventeen

MEGUMI

I stood before the council, wearing a formal kimono, one that was rather long and that hid well the fact that I did not have a left arm. “Okada Akari has accepted my offer to take her father’s position on the council, as well as his position as Chief Advisor.”

The of the council all glanced at the samurai woman kneeling just inside the shoji. I gestured to her, and she rose, taking a seat on my right-handside where her father would have sat. She gracefully knelt on the mat and placed her hands in her lap, eyeing everyone else in the room.

I turned my attention back to the council, meeting every one of the men’s eyes. One of those eyes held betrayal and hid a traitor. Who? Which one of them was lying and deceiving me, deceiving us all?

Koike, the secondary advisor, did not look happy about the news of Akari taking her father’s old position. After Akari had left on her own to grieve, Ryosuke told me that Koike would not take to her new position lightly, and reminded me to tread carefully. Would his anger be enough to fuel him to betrayal?

Tezuka, who would be negotiating with other clans, could just as easily talk his way into the Iwashita inner circle. Or was it one of the other generals who sat around the table, who all looked at me with contempt and doubted my abilities

as Empress?

Tezuka and Asano were both gone. Tezuka had left to negotiate with other clans, and Asano had gone with many of the scouts to search the farms for survivors and to see if any of the fields were still usable. Ryosuke reported on the growth of the new recruits, in which I gave permission so he and the other generals could assign trainers within the palace dojo as they saw fit; they knew their men better than I, so I would leave the task to them. For now, at least, we would wait and train more samurai. Ryosuke and the other generals had previously discussed the idea of leaving some of the samurai here to train new recruits and sending others out to protect more towns from the rogue army, although Ryosuke disagreed with the idea.

Akari slid her eyes to me, for permission to speak. “With all due respect, Generals, I must disagree with you. I was there when the rogue army attacked the farms, as well as the city of Tanazaki. Our forces will do no good against them with swords when they have cannons and guns. I only barely managed to survive, and I only did so out of sheer skill alone, yet numbers played a huge part in the battle as well. Even I cannot take on more than five samurai with guns all alone. And any wise person knows that splitting up what forces you have is never a good decision. However, recruiting new men and training them to be samurai will not help either; they would barely survive in a fight with other samurai, much less against rogue samurai with guns.”

Ryosuke and I met gazes. Akari spoke the truth, though most of the generals grumbled and looked angry by her outburst, as if, though she was my Chief Advisor, she had no right to speak.

“What would you suggest we do, then, young Okada?” Koike demanded harshly.

She smiled. “I would suggest sending three or four of your most skilled samurai, ones that are not needed here to train, along with a few of your well-trained watchmen that are still in the capital, to infiltrate the rogue army from the inside.”

Though I did not express it outwardly, I thought of how good her plan was, but knew that if the spy was in this room, her plan would be taken to the rogue army immediately.

“And? What exactly would three or four samurai be able to do against an entire army, especially one with ancient weaponry?” one of the generals shouted.

“Find their strengths and their weaknesses.” Akari’s voice held surety and confidence. “If we are to be able to defeat them in open battle, then for now, watching and waiting are our best options. Perhaps if they have alliances with other clans, we can discover that and use that against them.”

One of the other generals spoke out. “You have a point there, Okada. Empress, what do you say on the matter?”

I glanced at Koike and Ryosuke. “What are your opinions?”

Koike frowned. “Sending four of our best samurai into an enemy camp with no direct mandate except to watch and wait, hoping to discover some kind of a weakness is foolishness! We need all our able-bodied men here, in the capital either training men, or out there, protecting our people!”

“And General Kurosawa?”

“It would be better than splitting up our troops, or than sending raw recruits against an advanced army that we know nothing about.”

I nodded. “Very well then. General Kurosawa, you will come to me later with names of samurai that you trust are skilled enough for this mission. Okada, I expect you to be there as well.”

Ryosuke and Akari both inclined their heads. Once everyone except Ryosuke and Akari was nearly at the shoji, I stood.

“Empress, if I might have a word with you?” Akari asked, to my surprise.

I nodded, sitting back down on the mat, glancing at Ryosuke, waiting for him to leave.

“General Kurosawa, if you might stay too?” Akari turned to look at him where he stood near the shoji.

Ryosuke hesitated, but walked back over and sat on a mat across from us.

“What is it, Akari?” I asked her.

“What I spoke in council was really only half of the plan.”

Ryosuke’s eyes widened, but his lips curled up into a slight grin.

“You kept the other half to yourself for the purpose of outwitting the spy?” I phrased it like a question.

Akari nodded. “Yes. You see, when I said three or four of our skilled samurai, I really meant six of them, and they would split up into two groups. Two of them would actually be going into the rogue army camp to find out how they are getting their guns and cannons and to stop them from getting anymore. The other four would find a way to destroy the cannons they do have, and the supplies of ammo for the guns.”

Ryosuke’s brows knitted together. “It would be impossible to destroy all the guns outright, but destroying their ammo supply would stop them.”

“And without the ability to procure more….” I let my voice trail off.

“Exactly. It would also be a good idea to find a way to discover if the Iwashita army has traded katanas for guns and cannons as well.”

I nodded, deep in thought.

“Only one or two samurai would be best for that task,” Ryosuke said.

Akari nodded, biting her lip.

“What is it?”

“I actually know someone who might be able to help. He—He is a friend, and he has worked as a spy before.”

Ryosuke narrowed his eyes. “Who does he pledge loyalty to?”

Akari’s face became imive. “Me.”

My eyes widened, unsure of how to respond. Ryosuke looked just as surprised as I did.

“I know that seems… odd, but he has saved my life on more than one occasion. If it had not been for him, I would not have made it back home.”

I smiled warmly. “I would like to meet him, then. We can discuss the arrangements then.”

Akari’s expression changed to hold a strange look, but nodded and inclined her head in a short bow. “Of course, Empress.”

As she stood to leave, Ryosuke stayed where he was, unmoving. Once Akari had shut the shoji behind her, Ryosuke looked at me. “I want to be there when you meet this friend of hers.”

I frowned. “What is it?”

“You said my father had sent her on a scouting mission with a few of the watchmen. If her ‘friend’ worked for Asano and my father as a watchmen, she would have just said so. He obviously is not one of my father’s samurai, and if he was loyal to another clan that is allied with us, she would have named it. There is something she is not telling us.”

I glanced down, thinking. “I do not think she would lie to me.”

“You do not know her enough to trust her fully, Megumi.”

I sighed. “I have never been close with her, but both of our fathers worked closely together, so I have known her since we were both children.”

Ryosuke narrowed his eyes at me. “You knew Tatsuya since you were both children as well.”

His words felt like a blow against my heart, but deep inside I knew he spoke them true; I simply did not wish to it it. I clenched my teeth and glared down at the ground. “That is not fair.”

“No, but it is the truth. You do not know Akari, and she has been gone for several weeks on mission. Until we can meet this friend and know more about him, we should be cautious.” Though I swallowed hard, I nodded. I did not wish to believe Akari would betray me, but in times such as these, no one could be trusted.

Chapter Eighteen

AKARI

I fought to keep my voice even, and to keep from clenching my teeth or fists in frustration. Keeping my voice polite, almost forcefully so, I spoke. “You know the honorable thing is to at least do what you can to try to stop the rogue army from getting more cannons and guns. To fight with a distanced weapon against something that is meant for closer combat…. And to strike in homes, among women and children, and untrained men…. You know that is not honorable!”

Shinji looked at me with a thoughtful expression, and then shrugged. “Fine. I’ll help you at least stop the cannons and guns. But I will not spy on my own clan. I may have betrayed them, but I will not lose sight of where my loyalties lie.” His tone left no room for argument.

I glanced down. If his loyalty was still with his clan, then could I trust him around mine? At the very least, I trusted that he would not harm innocent civilians, but if I took him to the palace to meet the Empress, would that be a different story?

“Why would your Empress even agree to meet me?”

His question took me by surprise, so at first, I had no straight answer. After a pause, I answered him as honestly as I could. “I simply told them you were a friend, and when asked where your loyalties lie, I told them with me.”

His eyes changed to a slightly widened look, though his eyebrows were still lightly furrowed. He smirked, which turned into a smile as he chuckled. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

I glanced down before meeting his gaze. “Do you?”

Minutes later, we stood just outside the shoji to enter the palace. While we waited on the samurai to fetch the High Commander, I glared at Shinji. “I am trusting you to be in the presence of my Empress. Do not give me any reason for that trust to break.”

His smirk was still in place, but it was small. It was not long before the samurai returned, General Ryosuke behind her. The samurai bowed and asked Ryosuke if he wanted her to accompany us. He shook his head so she bowed again and left.

Ryosuke glanced from me to Shinji. “This way.” He turned around and walked through the shoji, which a servant girl had opened. Once we had filed in behind him, the servant girl closed it for us. We followed Ryosuke to a small meeting room, not unlike the one the council had met in before, but much smaller.

Inside, Megumi sat on a mat with her legs tucked underneath her, and her single arm resting gently in her lap. It was difficult to tell that she only had one arm underneath the elaborate kimono she wore. Then again, I surmised that was the idea.

As soon as Ryosuke and I entered, we knelt on the floor and bowed low. Out of

the corner of my eye, I noticed that Shinji was kneeling as well, but had not bowed as deeply.

Upon her command, we all rose up and sat with our legs under us, facing her directly.

“Empress Sakamoto,” I started, assuming this counted as a somewhat formal setting, “may I introduce my friend, Shinji.”

“Shinji?” Megumi asked.

Shinji nodded. “Just Shinji, Empress.”

If this surprised Megumi, she did not show it. “So, tell me, Shinji, what clan do you fight for?”

Shinji’s eyes drifted to mine before he answered. “None. I am a ronin and I walk the path of the warrior.”

“It is bushido that guides your actions then?”

Shinji nodded. “I believe in honor and loyalty, if loyalty is earned and deserved. What the rogue army did to the farm lands and Tanazaki wasn’t honorable. I promised Akari that I’d stop their guns and cannons, whatever that might entail.”

“General Kurosawa, what do you think?” Megumi looked at Ryosuke. They looked at one another, as if having a private conversation that Shinji and I could not hear.

“What would a ronin know of honor?” Ryosoke snapped his gaze toward Shinji.

Shinji’s fists clenched tightly in his lap. “More than a pet dog following orders without thought or hesitation.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

My eyes widened, as did Megumi’s. Her face was quickly composed.

Ryosuke’s left hand twitched a fraction of an inch toward his katana hilt.

Megumi lifted her head, graceful and authoritative. “I am sorry if either of you were offended, but just because General Kurosawa is a loyal samurai, it does not mean that he is blindly following orders. The same with you, Shinji, simply because you are a ronin does not mean you are a barbarian without loyalty. It is not General Kurosawa, or even myself that needs or is asking your help. I must find a way to stop the army from destroying what crops and fields my clan has left, and from killing and destroying more homes and innocent, untrained citizens. Surely, any samurai with honor can understand that.”

Ryosuke relaxed. Whatever hold she had over him, it was very clear that her words reached somewhere deep inside and calmed him. Shinji, though he appeared tense, allowed his smirk to return. “What do you need me to do?”

“We need a well-trained samurai to sneak into the Iwashita army encampment and see if they have or plan to use guns or cannons of any kind.”

“That’s it?” Shinji’s voice was a mixture of surprise and amusement.

“Well, yes.”

Shinji’s smirk grew. “I’ve been in the Iwashita army camp around a month ago and I can tell you they fight like true samurai. No cannons or guns, unless that’s something recent they’ve gotten. The rogue army was the first time I’d seen samurai fight with guns and cannons.”

Megumi nodded. “If your information is correct, then it is a great relief. However, I would feel much better if you would still see it for yourself. Afterward, should the other samurai infiltrating the rogue army camp need any help destroying the cannons or weapons supply, please assist them any way you can.”

Shinji nodded. “All right. Gives me something to do.”

“Thank you very much for your help, Shinji,” Megumi said. Shinji nodded and stood up to leave the room.

“Akari, will you stay a moment longer?” Megumi asked.

I nodded.

Ryosuke looked at Megumi, waiting for a command. “General Kurosawa, you may do as you like.”

Shinji glanced at me. “I’ll wait for you outside.” I knew he probably meant to speak with me. As he opened the shoji and walked through, Ryosuke followed close behind him.

“I will only be a moment. Things will probably grow intense between them while they are outside. I was hoping that you would be willing to accompany Shinji on his mission. I have known you longer, and I trust your judgment somewhat better than I trust his at the moment. I am sure you can understand that. After you both complete your mission, go to the rogue army encampment and meet the other samurai there. Find out what you can and do what you can to help.”

I bowed low to the ground. “Yes, Empress.”

***

Once in the palace courtyard, I was relieved to see that Ryosuke and Shinji had not drawn their katanas yet. But they were both glaring each other down, and the tension was so thick it could nearly have been cut with a wakizashi.

“Shinji, we should go and eat before we depart at dawn.” I smiled at him.

Though he kept his eyes on Ryosuke’s, he nodded and walked beside me out the palace gates. We followed the main road into the city and continued walking side-by-side.

“What have you gotten me into, woman?” His voice was harsh and his eyes glared down on mine, but somehow, I could sense that he was not actually angry at me. He roughly snatched my arms and pulled me into an alley; his hands had a death grip on me.

“I am sorry. I knew that if I mentioned we would be going back into your clan’s army camp you would—“

He interrupted me. “We?”

I could only stare at him.

“No. There is no ‘we.’ I do this mission alone.”

“What? No! In any case, Empress Sakamoto has already ordered me to accompany you!” I glared at him furiously.

He practically snarled at me. “So, go back and request a denial. She seems like

an understanding Empress.”

“Why do you not want me to go? Is it because you plan on betraying us?”

Shinji smirked, but his eyes were cold and his expression was encased in fury. “Don’t tell me you trusted me so easily.”

I pushed against him, using my body weight and hands to push him against the wall behind him. “I have received my orders and I will not back down!”

He growled, and his grip on my arms tightened even more.

“If you plan to betray us, then you should return to your clan like you should have done days ago! Why else stay this long? Why even agree to meet with my Empress? Why agree to help us?” I pushed against his chest with my arms, balling my hands into tight fists and pounding against his chest roughly.

“You really don’t know anything, do you, woman?” His tone had softened a little, but his expression and eyes were still full of cold fury.

“I do not understand you! You speak of honor and loyalty, yet you betrayed your own clan to protect me, and you speak of sneaking into their camp for information about their weapons because my Empress, one of your enemies, asked you to? And yet you do not want me to go with you? This is not about your concern for my safety because you know I am a samurai; you have seen my combat skills personally. Everything you have done up to this point has

suggested you were at least mildly concerned for my safety, yet you do not express it at all! Why betray your clan, why want to keep me here? Why?”

He growled again and shoved me backwards as he spoke, yelling at me furiously. “I do it for you, woman!” My back slammed up against the alley wall behind me painfully so, but I did not feel it. He pressed against me, nearly hard enough to knock my breath out. Closing the distance between us, his hands stayed onto my skin, digging in. In a fury, he pressed our lips together, his mouth crushing mine with bruising force. I was so shocked and surprised that at first, I could not move. Then I finally kissed him back with all the frustration and anger I had inside me; everything I was, everything I lost and had gained unwillingly —my parents and then a position as advisor to the Empress—all the fighting, the blood stained upon my hands and the death my katana had brought, all of it poured out of me and into the moment that we shared.

Within seconds, I pushed him away from me, slamming my knee into his lower stomach and wrenching my arms violently out of his hands. “Never kiss me again, Shinji.” My voice was low with warning.

“Oh, come on, woman! You felt the same thing I did.”

It was true; I had, but he did not need to know that. I thought back to everything we had been through together, in just a few short weeks. During Tanazaki, I had not wanted him to die there, and the fact that he had saved me proved he felt the same way. As much as had I tried to deny it, I had not wanted him to leave to go back to the Iwashita Clan and had found myself hoping that he would stay here, although I knew he would leave.

Only he never had.

He had helped with Tanazaki because it had been the honorable thing to do. When had it become because of me? Had he really stayed here, in the capital of his enemies’ clan, because of me?

I had to know and this was the only way to prove it.

Without hesitation, I charged toward him, slamming him up against the opposite alley wall again and desperately pressed my lips against his. Without hesitating, I grabbed my katana and pulled it out all in one swift movement. He jumped farther into the alley to the left just in time to avoid it.

He cursed at me, wondering what I was doing.

I lunged toward him, my desperation and confusion somehow making me stronger, making my movements more flowing than before. As I swung down from the right, he used the hilt of his sword to block the attack. I slipped my right foot closer to his as I slid over to the left to change the direction of my next attack as I jabbed toward him. He unsheathed his katana and blocked. With a furious grunt, I pressed toward him, swinging from the left and then from the right. Though he was keeping up with me, I connected my movements, leaving him no time to strike on his own. I made sure that when he read my expressions to predict my attacks, that he saw only hatred and fury there; a desire to kill. He was confused, but began concentrating on the fight, not yet willing to become offensive yet.

I struck toward his stomach and moved my feet so that I slipped just behind him and swung toward his back as I turned. He dodged, but not quickly enough. My blade just barely grazed his lower back.

He lunged toward me then, finally turning to the offensive. I smiled inwardly, thinking that it was about time. Before I could read him, he sliced at my side, leaving me barely enough time to block it with the side of my blade. As soon as I blocked it, he moved again, sliding his sword beneath mine and shoving it upwards. I was forced to release my katana or my wrists would have broken. It flipped over my left shoulder and on the ground somewhere behind me. I moved backwards to avoid most of the attack, though his blade did graze my left side.

He kicked out at me, hitting my stomach, and then slammed his head against mine, knocking me to the ground. Towering above me, he held his katana at my throat. His eyes were cold and distant, and his expression was void of fury, yet it was cold just the same.

I glared up at him, attempting to reach my sword with my right hand, but he pressed his foot onto my hand, not hard enough to break, but enough to bring pain and stop me from reaching my sword. I groaned, but did not break his gaze.

This was it.

“Do it, Prince Iwashita Shinji. Bring honor to your family, to your clan… to your father and kill me. I am the Chief Advisor to Empress Sakamoto, your enemy. This is your chance, take it.” I made my tone commanding and cold.

The cold blade of his katana licked my skin. Blood trickled down my neck from where the cool metal rested against my skin.

His hands tightened on the hilt. “Die well, samurai.” There was no coldness in his words, then, nor anger, or fury.

I fought to control my breathing. To my dismay, I had been wrong; none of it had been for me, as he had said. He truly meant to kill me, and I was about to pointlessly face death without honor, nor victory, but in stupidity.

I inwardly sighed and relaxed my body, ready for the taste of death to finally come to meet me at last.

Then I saw it; just a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. It was so brief, I nearly missed it. It was just enough; once doubt entered, he had lost his resolve.

He flicked his hand and his katana shifted away from my neck and back into its sheath. “I meant what I said earlier, Akari. I did this for you. I stayed for you. And for the first time in my life, I can’t kill. Not even an enemy of my clan. If I’m to die in shame, then so be it. Just give me a swift and honorable death.”

I jumped to my feet and slammed into him as hard as I could, wrapping my arms around him. At first, he tensed up, probably suspecting I was about to cut him down, and then was surprised when I wrapped my arms around him. He hesitated, but finally placed his arms around me, returning the embrace.

I pressed my face into his neck, shaking. Honestly, I had truly thought he was going to do it; that I had been only seconds away from death.

Chapter Nineteen

MEGUMI

It was not a formal event when the handful of samurai, along with Shinji and Akari, left the capital. I did not go, because it was meant to be a concealed mission.

“Empress Sakamoto.” The young servant girl, Chiaki, knelt just outside the shoji. “Messenger Toshi is here to see you.”

“Send him in,” I informed her. She slid open the shoji and the young messenger, probably around my age if I had to guess, dressed in a black kimono, entered into the room. “What is it, Toshi?”

“Empress Sakamoto.” He paused, and did not continue speaking until the shoji had been shut and Chiaki’s outline was away from it. “I have been watching carefully and have discovered that several of the generals met without your consent late last night.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Could it be matters of the samurai? Planning for war, battle strategies?”

Toshi shook his head. “General Kurosawa was not present.”

I frowned. “Why would the generals have met without him?”

Toshi glanced at the ground. “I do not know, but there are rumors that they question your authority.”

I pursed my lips. “Do you have confirmation on this?”

“Not yet, Empress Sakamoto. But with your permission I will discover their true intentions, with proof.”

I smiled gently. “Thank you, Toshi. Let me know the truth when you discover it.”

He bowed deeply and left the room.

I stood, opened the shoji, and informed Chiaki to tell anyone that wished to see me that I would not take any visitors at the moment. When I walked down hallways, she closed the shoji behind me. I thought that it was more likely Ryosuke would be at the dojo overseeing the new recruits, so I decided to try there first. A few of the samurai standing watch in the hallway asked if I need them to accompany me. Politely, I declined.

It only took me a few minutes to reach the edge of the dojo grounds. Most of the new recruits were standing in neat rows, practicing with bokutos— wooden

training swords shaped like katanas. They were all working on the overhead cut, which was the most basic and one of the most important moves when learning the art of the sword. I longed to grab my shortened katana and to practice with them, even on such a basic move.

“Empress Sakamoto,” one of the soldiers greeted me, bowing low. The recruits all stopped what they were doing and fell to the ground, bowing low.

“Please continue with your training. I was just looking for General Kurosawa.”

“He’s doing paperwork in his office on the edge of the grounds.”

“Take me to him.”

The soldier slightly inclined his head, and led me away from the outside training grounds. We took off our shoes on the edge of the engawa and followed it until we reached a shoji on the edge of the building.

“General Kurosawa?” the soldier asked.

“What is it?” Ryosuke’s voice was firm and commanding—much like I imagined mine always was.

“Empress Sakamoto is here to see you.”

There was a pause and then the shoji opened up. He inclined his head to me in respect.

“General Kurosawa, I would speak to you alone.”

He looked at the solider who nodded and bowed once more before leaving us. “Please, come in.” He stepped aside to make room for me. Once I was inside, he slid the shoji shut behind me. I knelt on the mat opposite from the one that was in front of the low desk, which faced the wall.

He took his place on the mat in front of the desk, only facing me. “Is everything all right, Empress?” Though his tone became gentle, underneath it, his voice was laced with exhaustion and weariness that had not been there before.

I shook my head. “I came to you immediately. Toshi has informed me that the other generals met last night.”

Ryosuke frowned. “I was not informed. Did he say what the meeting was about?”

I shook my head. “No, except that there are rumors that they question my authority.”

If it was possible, his frown deepened.

“He told me he would discover the truth. Naturally, these are merely rumors, but I believe that they are true. I never thought it possible I would be allowed to become Empress, let alone that I would ever be allowed to rule our clan. They see me as weak—unable to lead the clan or our people.”

“They do not look past what their eyes see.” Ryosuke paused and sighed. He looked as tired as I had ever seen him. I wondered if he had any time to sleep, between all the paperwork, overseeing the new recruits, picking up his father’s affairs, selecting more new recruits, and strategizing and preparing for the war. When I looked at him deeper, I could see the light lines underneath his eyes, and the overall exhaustion in his features.

“You should get some rest, Ryosuke.”

He looked confused by my statement, at first, then smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. “There is a lot I have to do. I’ll rest when I need to.”

There was a short silence, then, but it was not awkward, or tense; it was comfortable. It was a relaxed moment between us, one that we had not shared in far too long. After a bit, he spoke again.

“I might have an idea about how to catch the spy.”

***

Later that afternoon, I spoke with local inn-keepers and a few of the other higher-class citizens about making preparations in case any refugees needed shelter. A few of the local tea houses agreed that if more space was needed, they would offer a few people a place to sleep in exchange for work. Likewise, the local dojos were also taking in new students willing to train in their techniques.

As soon as that was finished, my presence was needed among the generals at their request. I was relieved to see that Ryosuke was there as well.

“Empress Sakamoto, with your permission I would speak.” One of the generals, who bore the family name Matsushima, spoke out. He only slightly inclined his head.

“You may speak.” I knelt on the tatami matt, keeping my gaze level with the other generals.

“What exactly do you plan to do in defense of this city, and more importantly, the Imperial Palace? Have you made any plans at all?”

The question caught me by surprise. I briefly glanced at Ryosuke, and his gaze was one of warning. As I glanced into the eyes and faces of the other generals, all watching me expectantly, I knew they were testing me; waiting to see if I made a mistake, hoping for it.

I nodded. “Indeed, I have. I plan to increase the patrols around the palace, as well as inside and outside the city, specifically at night. I am currently making other preparations, and once finished, I will announce them to the council. One of which involves increasing the security at the city gates.” I held each of their

gazes a moment longer, before chancing another brief look at Ryosuke.

His expression, full of approval, was imive in an instant.

“But… Empress Sakamoto, surely, with the danger, it would be wise to announce those preparations immediately.”

“The rogue army is currently still in camp, so for the moment, the danger is distant. We have time, however little. I will announce the preparations when I am ready.”

Another general spoke up. “To keep your people at ease, Empress, it would be wise to announce it soon.”

They would not wait for long. I dismissed them all and stood, staring at the wall, wondering what I could do, not only to help protect my people and this city, but to keep the generals at bay, if only for a short time.

“Megumi.”

The voice, though instantly relaxing my muscles on the outside, did nothing to sooth the inner turmoil seething inside me.

“Look at me.”

Slowly, as if Ryosuke’s voice was pulling me toward him by sheer will, I turned to meet his gaze. He was standing only inches away from me. We were so close… closer than we had been in a long time. I could almost feel his breath on my skin…. His hands on mine…

I chewed on my lower lip, not concerned with how informal and inappropriate it was. “If they come with cannons and guns… if the mission fails, then our walls will not be enough to protect this palace, or the city. Ryosuke… what more can I do? We cannot spare the samurai we have… and I am sorry about the difficult position I put you in. I know increasing patrols will only make your job, and the jobs of the samurai under you, that much more difficult.”

He smiled warmly. “Do not worry yourself about me or my men; your samurai will follow you to whatever end awaits us. I will be able to divide training new recruits and patrolling with some of the higher-ranking samurai. I can alternate schedules as well. As long as they have time to sleep and eat to keep their bodies in good health, they will be happy doing anything they can for you and for this clan. It will also help keep some of their anxiety down. Waiting before sieges and battle can often be trying. Having something to do will strengthen their morale.”

I nodded, feeling somewhat reassured. “What am I going to do? I understand that we must prepare for an attack, but… what can I do that will be enough to keep the generals at bay?”

He narrowed his eyes. “I am not sure that anything you do will be enough to keep them from plotting. They will not stop until you show the weakness they expect from you.”

Instantly, I smiled. “What is the one thing I lack that makes me a lesser swordsman in the eyes of others?”

Ryosuke was surprised by my question. “Your arm. But what you lack in strength you replace with speed.”

“Yes. But two… two arms for striking, two legs for moving… Two is always better.”

He furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “What are you thinking?”

Chapter Twenty

AKARI

It took us nearly a week to reach where the rogue army was camped. Six other samurai, besides Shinji and I, accompanied us when we left the capital. Two of the samurai scouted on ahead; when they saw the outskirts of the rogue samurai, they came back to warn us. We all stopped then and discussed what we were each to do. Shinji and I would go ahead and leave them to cross the border and find the Iwashita army; though both he and I knew the army would not be too far away from the borders. Meanwhile, the six samurai would all split up; four attempting to destroy the cannons and all of the gunpowder, while the other two would listen in and spy to discover where they were receiving their weapons.

The six samurai left and then Shinji and I continued heading east. We would go around to completely avoid the rogue army camp, which would take us extra time.

A few days later, we had crossed the border and were a few miles into Iwashita territory.

Shinji put an arm in front of my chest, keeping us both hidden behind a tree. He nodded his head toward two samurai, standing several yards away. They both had guns strapped to their hips and wore Iwashita armor. “Scouts,” Shinji murmured.

I nodded. If there were scouts that meant the army was not that far away. We could either try to sneak up on them and attack, or wait and hope they did not find us.

Shinji gestured up in the tree, and then pointed to me.

I frowned. He wanted me to hide.

He rolled his eyes then shook his head and gestured up in the tree again.

I did not know what he meant specifically, but I decided to do as he said. Quietly, I scurried up the tree until I was just high enough to be out of sight. Shinji jumped out from behind the tree, creating a lot of noise.

My eyes widened. It was a rash plan—distract and lure them to me so that I could easily kill them—but I would have to be quick. I placed my hand atop my katana, clenching it as I readied myself as well as I could atop the branch.

Down below me, the men had heard and seen Shinji and aimed their guns at him, but he ducked behind the tree and then darted past it.

Both of the samurai took off after him. As soon as they were underneath me, I jumped down, slicing them both with one strike. I came back from right-to-left across both their backs once again. They both fell to the ground, groaning. With a quick and efficient strike, I stabbed one where his heart was, beneath the gaps in his armor, then pulled my blade out and did the same for the other one, giving

them a quicker death.

By that time, Shinji was facing me. He reached down and began taking off the armor off one of the samurai.

“What are you doing?”

“This will make it easier if someone sees us inside the camp.”

After we both had changed, though I did not fully understand why he had to, we began walking in the direction the samurai had come from.

It did not take us long to find the Iwashita camp. We hid in the trees along the outskirts for a bit, just watching and waiting for the right time.

“It looks like all the cannons are toward the front and the east side—we’ve come in from the west.”

I nodded. “Should we go around?”

Shinji eyebrows creased, deep in thought. “Probably. That will give it time to become night and hide what we’ll be doing better.”

We stayed in the trees, out of sight from the camp, but not away from it. Fortunately, all of the samurai stayed inside the camp, so we were not spotted. By the time we had arrived at the east side, it was well after nightfall. Though they had barriers, Shinji knew all the less watched areas and we were able to sneak in without trouble.

As soon as we slipped into the camp, we stayed low, hiding behind tents to avoid being seen. The cannons were lined up a few yards away from the edges of the barriers.

Shinji had told me a little about the cannons, since all I knew was their basic function—to shoot cannonballs at the enemy from a distance. The firing mechanisms were weak and frail, easily cut with a katana. I had already done it once before, but this time, we needed to be doubly sure that the canons would be disabled. Sabotaging the wheels would also be just as useful, though not permanent. We would still need to find out who was supplying them, however.

I followed behind Shinji quietly as he sneaked to the first cannon. He maneuvered so I could see what he was doing and quickly cut through the firing mechanism and then used his katana with a powerful strike enough to break both of the wheels.

He met my gaze and I nodded to him to let him know I understood what to do. With a nod, he quietly slipped behind me and around two more tents to take care of the other cannons to our left. I moved to the right, carefully sneaking around another tent and behind it to reach another cannon. It did not take me long to disable both the firing mechanism and the wheels so I moved on to the next one.

Coming around the next tent, there were two samurai standing watch. They watched the barriers, and after a quick look to my right to ensure no more

samurai were facing this way, I walked behind them and hid behind the cannon. Being this close, they would hear me, so I needed to draw them away. I picked up a small rock off the ground. It was going to be tricky; I did not want to throw it close enough to the other cannon that they noticed it had been disabled, and deeper into the camp would more than likely not draw their attention.

There was a tent without a lantern inside or out of it, so I threw the rock that direction. The noise grabbed their attention and they walked off to see what the sound was. I hoped that I had thrown the rock far enough away to keep them from hearing me. I quickly cut the firing mechanism followed by stabbing both of the wheels. Hurriedly, I left the cannon for the next one.

I was not sure how long it took me to disable all the cannons on my side. Shinji eventually caught up with me, I assumed because once he had reached the south side, he had run out of cannons. He helped me finish out the cannons on the north side. Even with his help, it still took us well over an hour. The muscles in my legs and back were sore from crouching and hiding so much, but we were not done yet. I followed Shinji as we sneaked deeper into the camp. It was slow going; the deeper we came, the more samurai were bustling about, even at that time of night.

Eventually we reached a large tent. Inside were crates—more crates than I could count. He grabbed one and used his katana to crack open the top of it. He picked it up easily and began slowly dumping whatever was inside onto the ground. As he did, I realized it was gunpowder. Once we stood outside the tent, he made a line of gunpowder from the crates inside the tent, to wherever we were going. After a short way, he stopped. If we went too much farther, we would run into more samurai patrols. He sat the crate down and then motioned for me to get back.

I glanced around. Once he blew this up, samurai would be rushing through here. It was imperative for me to hide but also find a place I could easily run away

from and escape of the camp as quickly as possible. We were near the middle of the camp, but from the looks of it I guessed we were more toward the southwestern corner. I quickly slipped behind a tent and knelt, watching Shinji.

Quickly, he returned the crate to the tent, and then came back to where the line of gunpowder ended. He pulled out a piece of flint and struck it against the blade of his katana. The spark from the strike hit the line of gunpowder.

Shinji darted toward me. We had only seconds to run as far away as possible.

We sprinted at full speed, attempting to stick to the shadows and around tents to avoid eyesight and suspicion. Fortunately, we had reached a part of the camp that was not very active. Within seconds, I heard it—a loud explosion that caused the earth underneath us to shake.

I started to continue heading west, but Shinji started running the other way. “What are you doing?” I yelled in a whisper.

“We still need to find out where they’re getting the guns and cannons or all of this will have been for nothing.”

“What exactly do you plan to do?” I demanded.

“I’m going to see my father.”

My eyes widened in utter shock. “Shinji, are you insane?”

He shrugged, smirk in place. “I’m the prince. But you should head west. Just keep heading that direction and I’ll catch up with you when I’m done.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m going with you.”

He looked like he was about to argue, but by then, samurai were shouting and running all around us. It was a miracle we even stayed hidden. Once the samurai ed and we had a small opening, he grabbed my arm and pulled me with him.

A few yards away there was a large tent—the largest in the entire camp. This was obviously where his father stayed.

I half expected samurai to be watching the front of the tent, but there were none there.

Shinji kept me behind him as we quickly went through the entrance to the tent. As soon as we stepped inside, he shoved me down and behind a stand that held armor.

After I had hid, a bulky and intimidating man turned around to face Shinji. When he saw him, the man frowned and glared at Shinji.

Shinji immediately knelt on the ground, in a low bow, the first time I had ever seen him so humble and respectful. His whole character seemed to change in the presence of his father.

The man, Emperor Iwashita, only looked at Shinji in distaste. “What are you doing back here?”

“Father, I—“

“I do not want any of your excuses! You ran off with that girl, which was not surprising. You have acted impulsively for the last time. I never expected to see your face in my presence again!” His voice was deep, bellowing and cruel. It sent shivers down my spine. The whole air around him seemed… dark and obscure. My muscles suddenly felt heavy.

“With all due respect, Father, I have only ever followed your commands and wishes wholeheartedly.” His voice sounded strained, as if he was only holding back his anger out of sheer will alone.

Faster than my eyes could see, Emperor Iwashita had unsheathed his katana and had it aimed at Shinji’s neck, in the middle of his collarbone. “I know of your actions at Tanazaki.”

Shinji glared up at him, without fear of death or cowardice. His smirk was back in place, but there was a cold fire in his eyes, one that froze the breath in my lungs. “Your army at Tanazaki acted without honor. They’re not samurai, they’re cowards; a disgrace to samurai!”

Iwashita slid his katana up faster than Shinji could react.

Shinji just barely managed to slip to the side, which caused the blade to slice through his right cheek from jaw to his eye rather than his throat. Blood poured out of the wound and across his face, but he did not groan or even grunt in pain. He made no sound or movement at all. He stood, still glaring at his father, his eyes wild in fury, and the blood on his face only added to the violent rage on his expression.

“You have disgraced me for the last time! You have betrayed me and your clan. I will enjoy watching you die, at last.”

With those words, samurai poured in from every direction, guns aimed at Shinji, completely surrounding him.

Chapter Twenty-One

MEGUMI

It was nearly a week later when Asano finally returned. Ryosuke and I were walking with Asano along the edges of the dojo as he was informing us of what he had discovered. “The majority of the fields had been utterly destroyed by fire —however, I spoke with one of the famers that survived. He said it would help the fields be more fertile next spring. Therefore, Empress, if we can outlast the winter, the rogue army’s attack will not greatly hinder our clan.”

I sighed in relief. “That is good, but what of surviving the winter with the supply we have now?”

Asano smiled. “It was known that your father kept a fast amount of rice and other foods that last for a while in the case of any emergencies. With the clans all tense and the fighting, it was unknown when a war would break out. Or a natural disaster as well.”

The relief inside me grew. At least, we would have plenty of food to eat, as well as enough to feed to the people. I nodded. “I am glad my father thought ahead.”

“As am I, Empress.” Asano turned toward Ryosuke. “Your father, as well, did a great service to his Emperor and his clan.”

Ryosuke inclined his head in respect, but there was something in his eyes that I could not read.

“What of the survivors, Asano?”

“Many people lost their lives in the attack, Empress. The few that survived were mostly from the farmlands. Tanazaki had little to no survivors.”

I looked down at the ground. My chest ached at the thought of so many innocent lives lost.

“I have ordered my watchmen, though it is not their normal tasks, to assist the survivors and bring them here to the capital.”

“Thank you very much, Asano. I have already spoken with many of the innkeepers and citizens here in the city and made preparations should refugees come.”

“It will be needed.”

I quickly glanced at Ryosuke. His eyes were narrow, and to anyone else, would appear harsh, but as he met my gaze, they were a gentle reassurance.

“With your permission, Empress Sakamoto, I should go. I have many duties to

attend to.”

I nodded at Ryosuke. “Go on, General Kurosawa.”

He inclined his head in a polite bow and walked off toward the dojo grounds.

Asano glanced at me. “I should be going as well, Empress.”

“One more thing before you continue your duties, Asano.”

“Yes, Empress?”

“I believe there is a spy in our midst.”

Asano frowned. “On the council?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you know who it is?”

I met his gaze, keeping mine perfectly steady. “I believe that Koike informed the

rogue army of my order to send in reinforcements. They were prepared and were able to call in reinforcements of their own.”

“He is not a samurai, and has been your father’s advisor longer than I can ; he is nothing but an old snake. What do you plan to do?”

I pursed my lips, as if deep in thought. “As of right now, I am not sure. I do not have any solid proof and therefore cannot act on what I know. I am trusting you with this information, Asano. For now, until we know more, please keep it to yourself.”

He nodded, bowing deeply. “You have my word as a samurai, Empress Sakamoto. Please, be careful. These are dark times, when the motives of everyone are uncertain.”

I nodded. “Thank you very much, Asano.”

***

Several minutes later, Chiaki opened up the shoji. Koike entered the room and Chiaki quietly shut the shoji behind him. “You wanted to see me, Empress?”

“Yes, please sit down, Koike.”

He took a seat, kneeling with his legs tucked underneath him on a mat across from mine.

“I have disturbing news to inform you of.”

“What is it?” He frowned, though the older man almost always seemed to be frowning.

“I believe that the generals are plotting against me. They have been meeting in secret and there are rumors that they do not trust my ability to rule.”

Koike’s eyes narrowed. “Is there any proof of this?”

I shook my head. “Not at this point, but I am currently looking into it. For that reason, I ask that you keep this to yourself, at least temporarily.”

“Of course, Empress.” Koike smiled, and bowed his head.

“I am sharing this with you because you advised my father before me, and have been loyal to my family for many years now. I appreciate and trust you, Koike.”

He smiled, but instead of reassuring me, it sent shivers down my spine. “I am glad to have your trust, Empress Sakamoto. Please inform me when you discover the truth behind their plotting.”

“I will.”

As soon as the shoji shut behind him, I released a breath I had not realized I had been holding.

***

Hours later, Chiaki spoke from outside the shoji.

“Empress Sakamoto, Tezuka has just arrived and wishes to speak with you immediately.”

“Send him in.”

The shoji opened and Tezuka walked into the room. He immediately bowed as Chiaki left the room and shut the shoji behind him. “Empress Sakamoto.”

“Tezuka, it is good to see you arrived safely. I trust your journey went well?”

He rose from his bow and knelt on the tatami mat across from mine. “As well as can be expected. I came to inform you of the events that took place during the negotiations.”

I gestured for him to continue speaking.

“The Sumida, Yamada, Komatsu, Ashikaga, Osaki, Nitta, and Tanji clans all decided to meet for the negotiations. Osaki, Sumida, and Tanji all agreed to listen and to possibly help our clan, but the rest would not. Yamada and Komatsu have already sided with the Iwashita and warned us against asking for further help, and against taking action against the Iwashita clan. Ashikaga and Nitta have stayed neutral and want no part in the conflict and therefore will not help either the Iwashita or us.”

I nodded, furrowing my eyebrows, deep in thought. “What of the Nishimura clan?”

“There has been no word from them, Empress.”

“With the Iwashita first rising against them, surely they would have at least come to the meeting to hear what we had to say? It is hard to believe they would not have been a part of it, and a part of fighting the Iwashita.”

Tezuka nodded in agreement. “I agree, Empress, but there were no representatives at the meeting and no messengers or word was heard from them.”

I nodded. “What have the Osaki, Sumida, and Tanji said thus far?”

“As you know, the Osaki clan has the largest army when it comes to numbers, and if they side with us, their army will certainly weigh the numbers toward our side; however, the Tanji, as you know, use men trained in the ninja arts. If they side with us, it could give us the upper hand, especially if we are to fight against guns and cannons. The Sumida clan have an army only slightly larger than ours, yet they are known for their loyalty and honor in battle.”

I pursed my lips. “Each of them attended my coronation. However, how far are they willing to take their loyalty? Though they may have agreed for trade, future negotiations, and not to wage war against us, does their loyalty include offering aid?”

“That is what we will find out. Tanji is willing to send their men in exchange for free age into our borders, for living or visiting at will. Osaki is willing to send their troops in exchange for marriage arrangements between the higherclass citizens of both clans, and Sumida is willing to negotiate on land.”

I nodded. “This will be something to bring to the council’s attention.”

Tezuka stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Yes. It would be wise to think long and hard before making a definite decision, Empress.” After a pause, he continued. “Is there anything else you wish to know, before I take my leave?”

“Actually, there is something I wish to inform you of. While you were away, someone within the council has betrayed our clan to the Iwashita rogue army. I believe it is General Matsushima. He has been questioning my abilities to lead our clan… questioning me as to what I plan to do with the defenses of the city. I have no solid proof yet, and therefore cannot act.”

“I am glad you came to me with this, Empress. Matsushima is a clever man, and an even better strategist.”

“I trust you, Tezuka. Your way with words may be able to help us find proof of Matsushima’s betrayal. For now, however, until we know for sure if we have the of other clans, I believe it is best not to cause disarray within our own clan by exposing one of its own generals. I trust you will keep this confidence?”

He nodded, bowing low to the floor. “Of course, I will, Empress. When the time is right, simply give me the order and I will discover his true intentions.”

“Thank you very much, Tezuka.”

***

Hours after that, just before sunset, I met with Ryosuke in his office. It was almost night, which meant the new recruits would have stopped training, and the only samurai still out were the ones on patrol around the palace, the dojo grounds, and the city. We were perfectly alone and not likely to be disturbed.

“I did as you suggested.”

“Try to relax, Megumi. You’re still tense. I am sure you did as you were supposed to.” Ryosuke’s eyes were filled with approval.

“To Asano, I told him that Koike is a spy who informed the rogue army of my decision to send in reinforcements. To Koike I told him that the generals have been plotting behind my back, and Tezuka arrived today.”

Ryosuke nodded. “I heard. Did he have good news?”

I quickly told him, summarizing the news Tezuka had informed me of earlier that day.

Ryosuke forehead creased at the center, seeming deep in thought. “It seems more reasonable to try your hardest to get Tanji or Osaki to side with us.”

I nodded, pursing my lips. “Yes, but I will be grateful for any help at all.”

“Did you tell him anything?”

“Yes. I told him that General Matsushima has betrayed us to the Iwashita rogue army. All three men agreed to keep my confidence. Now, what?”

Ryosuke smiled. “Now we wait until one or none of the stories become exposed. I will be listening and watching everyone as much as I can.”

I nodded. “As will I.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

AKARI

Shinji dove into action, unsheathing his katana at the same moment he flew toward a gunman diagonally to his left. He quickly cut the gunmen down, just as another behind him began to take aim. I jumped out from behind the armor stand and kicked the gun out of the samurai’s hand. I unsheathed my katana, slicing his neck, and continued the movement to stab a gunman directly in front of me. Yanking the blade out of his body, I kicked his body down and sliced from rightto-left in an arc, cutting across a man’s chest.

More samurai entered the tent; more than even Shinji and I could face. I cut through man after man, until I fell to the ground, unable to stand up. I realized then that my right leg had been shot, not enough to be fatal, but enough to temporarily keep me from fighting. Three gunmen surrounded me with their guns aimed at my head.

I was helpless.

When I glanced around, Shinji’s hand was coated in blood and his sword had fallen to the ground. His father kicked it away before Shinji had a chance to grab it.

Shinji glared at him, pulling out his wakazashi and met his father’s attack just before he cut through Shinji from above. A wakazashi, was almost never a match

against a katana, and Shinji’s skill, however advanced, was no match against Iwashita’s, especially not with a wounded hand.

A samurai came from behind Shinji while he was concentrating on keeping his strength against his father, and he did not have time to dodge. The samurai hit Shinji on the back of the head with the gun. He fell to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

“Take them both. Get them out of my sight.” Iwashita’s voice was cold and cruel; harsher than even Shinji’s had been. I attempted to rise to my feet, but was quickly knocked down and slowly, my world became blackness.

***

I was not sure how long it was before I woke up. My eyes were blurry, and it took several minutes before my vision settled enough to see anything.

I was inside a tent. The only form of light came from what I assumed were the campfires outside it. My hands were chained around a post behind me, and my legs were tucked underneath me, with my ankles chained around the post behind me as well. I grunted in pain—the wound in my right leg was sending waves of agony through my leg and it was throbbing.

I quickly glanced around. The entrance was to my left, which meant I was chained alongside one of the sides of the tent. Shinji was in front of me, but slightly to the right, directly across from the entrance along the back wall of the tent.

Unlike me, he was standing and his hands were chained to two different posts, each one on different sides of his body. Likewise, his ankles were also spread and chained to either of the posts. His muscles were pulled taut as his arms were all the way extended. One of his hands was completely covered in blood, and behind his right ear, from what I could see.

He glanced in my direction. “Welcome back,” he murmured softly.

“Remind me whose idea it was to come see your father.” I grunted as I pulled on the chains on my wrists.

Shinji chuckled mirthlessly, but smirked. “I hadn’t expected him to realize I had betrayed him.” Shinji frowned, and then glared at me, cursing. “What were you thinking, woman? I told you to stay hidden!”

“I was not about to let them kill you!”

He snarled at me. “I am willing to die anytime, but having you here is something I’m not willing to accept.”

I glared back at him, but had no counterargument. Reluctantly, I had to agree with him; being imprisoned by the enemy was not something I was willing to accept, especially not as a samurai. Although… I did not release my hard stare on him. “It would not be my first time.”

He smirked, but his eyes were harsh and cold toward me.

I knew that what I had said was cruel, but it was the truth. It grew silent as he was either too angry or too tired to reply. I continued trying to pull on the chains or trying to slip my hands out, but they were clasped on tight, and it did not appear I was going to escape from them anytime soon. I glanced at Shinji again, but they had him more confined than I; there was no way he would escape unless I or someone else set him free.

Outside the tent, it appeared there were two samurai at the door, and more bustling around it. Eventually, I started to feel tired and had to rapidly blink to keep myself awake. I continued struggling with the chains, this time trying to get the post out of the ground.

Suddenly, Shinji shouted my name loud enough to scare me. It was only then that I realized that I had fallen asleep. I blinked several times, but my eyes did not want to open. Everything appeared foggy.

“Akari, listen to me, you have to stay awake!” Shinji’s voice was loud and urgent.

I nodded, blinking again, confused about what was so urgent about staying awake. “Why…?”

“You’ve lost a lot of blood from your wounded leg. It doesn’t look severe, but without closing it up, the blood loss could kill you, woman.”

I nodded, forcing my eyes open, but they refused.

***

It was sometime later when voices arose from outside the tent. The previous samurai were gone, their silhouettes replaced by two different ones. I did not recognize any of the voices except one: Emperor Iwashita.

“It would seem reasonable to keep him alive. Corrupt him, Iwashita.”

“He deserves to die a criminal’s death, without honor! Why would I want him Corrupted in the first place? He does not deserve to become one of us.”

The other voice, cold and calculating, sent chills into my spine. The strange voice laughed with an icy emptiness that sounded almost inhuman. “Becoming one of us is the worst torture you could place on him, especially with the intense feelings I can sense from him to the girl in there.”

My eyes widened and my breathing stopped. I could not help but meet Shinji’s gaze. He looked just as confused as I felt.

Iwashita grumbled then, too soft for my ears to hear.

“You question my will? It’s because of me you have the weapons you do. I don’t

think it would be wise to question me again. I’m here to Corrupt as many as I can, and your son will be the next Corrupted to my Master’s ranks.” The voice held nothing, no anger, no remorse, nothing but cold and emptiness. It was not quite a monotone, but there was no emotion behind the words the voice used. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before.

Iwashita was silent for a few seconds too long. “Yes, Skull.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. Skull? Was that an actual name? Whoever this man was, he was obviously the weapon’s supplier. He had to be extremely powerful if even Emperor Iwashita answered to him and obeyed his commands. Who was he? Nothing about what they were saying made any sense. Corrupt Shinji? What did they mean? My heart raced in my chest and I began to thrash and struggle with the chains again, more urgently this time.

Seconds later, both of the men entered. Iwashita entered first, angry and intimidating.

When my eyes rested on the stranger’s, I felt the air around me shift into something dark and heavy. I felt a pressure then, as if something just did not feel right. Every nerve in my body was screaming at me to run away as fast as I could. As I met the stranger’s eyes, every muscle in my body tensed and felt as if they were on fire. His eyes were pure black, and I felt like I was staring into a bottomless pit.

I grunted, clenching my teeth.

There was blood all around me; on the floor, on the walls of the tent, dripping

from the ceiling, drenching me completely. I struggled, but could not escape it. There was so much blood. My katana bathed in it. Bodies stacked up higher than I thought possible, surrounding me, trapping me.

“Akari!” Somehow, Shinji’s voice pulled me to the present. I was not sure how, but in my heart, I knew that somehow the stranger had caused me to hallucinate. “What are you doing to her?” Shinji’s voice was full of icy rage.

“Relax. She is nearly incorruptible. Her presence is radiating light. All I can do is torture her with feelings she’d rather not deal with or face.”

Shinji glared at the stranger, although there was a flicker of confusion in his features. “What are you talking about?”

“My knowledge is beyond you, samurai.”

Shinji’s chains rattled as he shook them in anger. If he had not have been chained, he would have attacked the stranger.

The stranger looked at Iwashita. “Let’s see if you are strong enough to begin Corrupting your son.”

With that, Iwashita met Shinji’s eyes. From the angle I was at, it almost looked as if Iwashita’s dark eyes had become fully blackened.

Shinji began to grunt. Every muscle, already taut and tense, became strained. His jaw was clenched, as were his fists. His whole body trembled and shook. His eyes were far away, seeing something that I could not. My mind briefly flashed to the hallucination he had given me, and I shuttered to think of what Shinji was experiencing in that moment.

Eventually, the grunts became groans. There were no words to describe what the air around me felt like. It was thick with a fog, invisible, but almost tangible. It was as if my body had a great pressure over it, keeping my lungs from letting out air, making any part of my body too heavy to move on my own. I felt chills on my arms, as if with the invisible fog came a cold that stabbed straight into my bones and froze me to the very core. The feeling at first, had come from the stranger, but in that moment, it seemed to radiate from Iwashita to Shinji until the whole tent was consumed with it. My eyes became blurry and darkness penetrated my vision. Every once in a while, spots danced at the edge of my sight; so close, yet so far.

The spots drew closer and enlarged themselves until the darkness scattered and I could finally see something, but it was still too blurry to see anything specific, as if it was behind a dark veil.

“Enough, Iwashita.” Though I could not quite see yet, I could tell the voice who had spoken had been the stranger.

“I am strong… I do not understand why…”

“It’s not that you are weak. It is that there is something keeping him from being Corrupted… some idea rooted into the very depth of his soul that is in the way. I will have to unravel it piece by piece… string by string…”

The blurs had finally disappeared enough that I could see. Shinji was panting, with a thin layer of sweat over his entire body. His limbs were shaking and I was sure if he was not chained to the post, he would have collapsed.

The stranger’s eyes opened wide, and began to glow. They were still as black and dark as the night sky without the moon or stars, but they were also glowing. My heartbeat quickened, which only made exhaling and inhaling harder as the pressure intensified on my chest. What I was seeing was impossible.

Shinji immediately started screaming. His voice was deep and full of agony. More than anything I wanted to close my ears or run away, but I was forced to listen, unable to move or do anything to help. The invisible fog grew and grew until it was so thick that I could not breathe. All I could feel was the sickening heaviness that enveloped the whole tent. I was not sure how, but I somehow could sense that the fog stretched out from the stranger and all around Shinji. It was that moment when I realized that the invisible fog was not really invisible; it was darkness, so black and deep that it appeared to have no color at all. Tendrils of it snaked out from the stranger, dancing around Shinji, much like the cherry blossoms had when we had first met, only this was a twisted perversion of what that vision had been. Rather than agonizingly beautiful and fiercely peaceful, tempting fate dancing along the edges of something dangerous, now it was horrid, full of shadows and darkness, like the aftermath of death and destruction with nothing but blackness and ashes left behind.

Chapter Twenty-Three

MEGUMI

It was just after I had returned from a meeting with the council, finalizing the decision to build extra fortifications around the city and the palace. We had plenty of funds, so the task would provide extra work for people in the capital. Tezuka had met with three of the best architects in the city a few days ago, and I had met with the three of them personally the day before today. Rather than hire just one, as I had originally intended, I decided to allow them all to work together for the city’s fortifications. Though the decision was ultimately up to me, it was in my best interests to ensure they were content with me; I had enough traitors and spies without angering anyone else further.

I had hoped that by finalizing the decision at last it would quiet the generals and stop them from meeting again in secret, but Ryosuke was not so sure.

After the meeting, I had been about to return to my private chambers for a bath, when Toshi ran up and bowed before me. “Empress, I am sorry for my abruptness, but I must speak with you immediately on an urgent matter.”

I nodded, my tone strictly business. “Follow me.” I let him to a smaller meeting room down a few hallways and up a flight of stairs, one that was more isolated. Keeping the same tone, I asked him what was going on.

“I have heard rumors that General Matsushima has betrayed us to the Iwashita

rogue army. I believe he is the spy that we had been searching for.”

I narrowed my eyes, feigning concern. “Do we know where these rumors came from and if they are true?”

“I overheard Negotiator Tezuka Hisashi speaking to his personal advisor myself.” Toshi paused before continuing. “I thought I should come and tell you immediately to give you time to choose how best to act upon this information. Based upon the conversation, I assure you that the rumor is, in fact, true.”

Though the information itself was not surprising or distressing, the fact that it was that particular story which had gotten out meant that the traitor was actually Tezuka himself. Toshi must have taken my quietness over the shock of Tezuka’s betrayal as distress of the news itself, because he attempted to reassure me.

“I promise you, Empress Sakamoto, General Matsushima will not get away with this betrayal.”

I nodded my head, sighing. “Thank you very much, Toshi. You may take your leave. I will you when a decision is made.”

As soon as he left, I informed Chiaki I would be leaving, and then headed straight for the dojo grounds. I found Ryosuke, not at his office, as I had suspected, but to the side of the training area, practicing his form. He held his katana firmly in both of his hands, right foot slightly forward. He struck downward as he stepped forward several steps, breathing out quickly as he struck. His feet danced around again, thrusting forward, then from left-to-right quickly. There was power and strength behind his blade with every attack.

As if the swordsman in him felt himself being watched, he turned and met my eyes. His eyes stared into mine, reading what my heart was saying; how I longed and wished to be there with him, my katana in hand, practicing with him. His gaze said what his voice could not; that he wanted me there as much as I longed to be there.

“Empress Sakamoto,” he said formally, bowing to me deeply.

“General Kurosawa, I was hoping to have a word with you in private. Do you have time?”

He nodded. “Yes, I do.” Once we were seated on tatami mats inside his office, he asked, “What is it?”

“The messenger, Toshi, came to me with word that a rumor has started. He overheard Tezuka speaking with his personal advisor, telling him the story I spoke of.”

Ryosuke frowned. “That would mean that more than likely he is the spy. If he promised to keep your confidence and then spoke to his advisor…”

I nodded. “Although, this does not necessarily mean that he is the spy.”

“We need more information… What exactly was said between Tezuka and his

advisor? Did they speak in confidence or with the desire to spread rumors?”

I shook my head, frowning. “I do not know. Toshi did not say.”

“Perhaps I should go speak with him. As a man maybe I could get more details from him.”

I glared at him, my frown deepening.

“Despite that you are Empress, he may be reluctant to speak to you of any gory details. I apologize, but I speak the truth.”

The fact that he spoke truth was exactly what frustrated me, but I shook my personal thoughts aside. “But perhaps since you are not Empress, he would not divulge any information to someone whose loyalty could be questionable in his eyes.”

It was Ryosuke’s turn to frown. “We should both speak with him separately and then compare his story before you make a decision on what to do.”

I nodded, agreeing to the plan.

Hours later, Ryosuke and I met again, this time in my private chamber. We both remained silent until Chiaki closed the shoji and gave her a few minutes to step

farther down the hall.

“What did Toshi tell you?” I asked Ryosuke.

“He said he overheard Tezuka speaking with his personal advisor, telling him of the general’s betrayal of us to the Iwashita clan. He was asking his advisor to write a letter, but as for the letter’s contents, Toshi did not know.”

I furrowed my eyebrows.

“What did he tell you?”

“He said he happened by when he heard their conversation. Tezuka provided his advisor with the details of the general’s betrayal. Toshi was too far away to hear much more, other than the fact that a letter to the Iwashita clan was mentioned. By what Toshi had said, I assumed that the letter to the Iwashita clan that Tezuka had mentioned had been from General Matsushima, according to their knowledge, in any case. But from what Toshi told you…”

“If what he’s said is true, then Tezuka was asking his advisor to write a letter… To the Iwashita clan,” he finished for me. Ryosuke frowned. “Why would he have two different stories?”

“Obviously, he trusts you as a man, more than me, despite that I am his leader, because I am a woman. You were the one who said that, Ryosuke. Why do you doubt your own words?” I narrowed my eyes.

Ryosuke shook his hand, closing his eyes. He sighed, and it was a tired sound. “I know, but something just does not sound right.”

I frowned. “I have to go by what the evidence suggests, and there is no denying that Tezuka betrayed my confidence. We will have to investigate further to prove that he is the Iwashita spy, but now I know that I cannot trust him.”

“And until we can prove that?” Ryosuke asked, looking at me expectantly.

“We cannot allow him to run free, not when he could be overhearing valuable information and spreading it to the Iwashita. He must be arrested until I say otherwise.”

Ryosuke’s lips were a firm, thin line, and his eyes were harsh and distant. “Even as Empress, with the other generals just waiting for you to make one wrong mistake, you cannot arrest a member of the council in broad daylight. It would cause an uprising.”

“How will arresting him in secret be any different?”

“It will give us time to investigate to find proof to present to the council, time to find the truth before the generals make a move against you.”

I nodded. “Then tonight, I trust you to lead a few of your most trusted samurai

with you to arrest Tezuka and keep him in custody. Keep the key to his chains and prison cell to yourself and only to yourself. Do not trust anyone with the information of where he is, not even the samurai you take to apprehend him. Lock him up yourself.”

Ryosuke bowed low to the floor. “Yes, Empress.”

***

The waiting seemed unbearable. More than anything I wanted to grab my katana and be by Ryosuke’s side to ensure his safety myself. There were so many possibilities, so many different scenarios. And despite that I did not want to it it, even the three samurai with him, though they were considered his most trusted and his father’s oldest allies, could not be trusted either.

Though it seemed like much longer, it was less than an hour later when Ryosuke came to the private meeting room I had waited in.

The moment Chiaki closed the shoji, I ran up to him, as close as I dared. I looked at him from head to foot, ensuring for myself that he had no wounds. When I was confident that he seemed unharmed, I urged him to speak.

“Tezuka had been working alone when we came for him. He did not fight or resist, although he did question as to why he was being taken. Once we were near the prison, I told the samurai to leave us. Tezuka was already bound, and since there had been no resistance from him, I knew I could handle him alone. I took him to the prison and locked him up myself. Here is the key to his cell, as well as the key to the chains that bind him.” He held out an open palm with two

keys in it. I grabbed them both and placed them around my neck, hiding them underneath my kimono.

“Before anyone notices what has happened, you must return to Tezuka’s office and go through his things. Find that letter Toshi spoke of and bring it to me, along with anything else that appears suspicious or will prove his betrayal.”

Ryosuke nodded, bowed, and then left the room much too soon.

Chapter Twenty-Four

AKARI

Shinji had been fading in and out of consciousness for hours. He was pale, and his body was still trembling. Beads of sweat covered him completely. His muscles were taut, which only added to the way his veins seemed to strain against his skin. His eyes fluttered, blinking several times before his gaze slowly slid to mine.

Everything about his expression screamed exhaustion and fatigue. “Shinji, what is he doing to you?”

Both the stranger and Iwashita had left hours ago, and had come back multiple times to continue trying to “Corrupt” Shinji. I still had no idea what madness they spoke of, and I did not care to find out.

All Shinji could do was just weakly shake his head.

Whatever it was, though it seemed to be taking a physical and internal toll on Shinji, did not seem to be working as the stranger had expected.

No matter the cost, I had to get us out of there, away from whatever dark power surrounded the stranger and Iwashita. I had been fumbling with the chains for

hours it seemed. Using my left hand only, I managed to squeeze my fingers together as tightly as possible, until my wrist was sprained. Though pain flared inside my wrist and fingers, I continued, until my wrist slid completely free of the chain.

Though my right hand was still cuffed to the chain, I was able to move my hands about freely, so I did not bother to free my right hand. With it, I reached inside my kimono along my chest and grabbed out a smaller, concealed dagger I kept there in case of emergencies.

I could not see the chains on my ankles, but I used my left hand to feel around until I could find the hole where the lock was. Holding the dagger in my right hand, I slid it inside the keyhole and fiddled with the lock. I twisted it left and right until I heard the correct clicking sound, then I turned it until the lock sprang free. My legs were so weak, especially the one that was shot, that I had to use the post to help stand to my feet.

Immediately, my legs throbbed and had gone numb, so much so that I could not even feel the gunshot wound in my right thigh. I collapsed onto the ground, both of my legs extended straight out behind me. Since having the chain still cuffed to my left ankle would only make unneeded noise, I decided to use the dagger to pick the lock on it as well. I slid the dagger in, attempting to hurry, knowing that I had to get Shinji unchained and both of us out of there before Iwashita, the stranger, or any other samurai returned.

I was wounded and would not be able to fight them off if they did.

My hands shook as I slid the dagger, though I did not know if the shaking was due to fatigue, anxiety, or blood loss. I turned the dagger only to have it snap completely. It was a small dagger to begin with, and now, the blade had snapped

off the hilt completely.

It was useless.

I used the post to stand, my legs and hands shaking from the effort. Desperately, I looked around the room to find something else to pick Shinji’s locks with.

“There’s no time, woman.” Though his voice was rough and hoarse, it still held the same demanding sardonic tone he usually had with me.

“I can find something else to use…” My voice sounded frantic even to my own ears.

“You can’t. I can hear footsteps near here. You have to escape while you still can.”

I shook my head violently at him, speaking through clenched teeth. “No. I will not leave you here at their mercy.”

“You have to.”

“No!”

“Akari! You are a samurai first and foremost! Your duty to your Empress and your mission comes before your loyalty to your friends. Right now, your mission is to escape, tend to your wound, and return to your Empress safely to tell her of what’s happened here.”

I blinked several times, forcing the tears back, until they were but a lump in my throat. Nodding slowly, I swallowed the lump down and the tears with it. “Yes. But I will come back for you, Shinji. I promise.”

Half his mouth curved up into his smirk, only for a few seconds before it was gone, replaced by exhaustion and fatigue once again.

Painfully, I turned away from him, focusing on the task at hand.

There were two samurai standing guard at the entrance to the tent. My best chance was to sneak out one of the sides. I faced the post where I had been chained and limped to the left of it. I crawled on the ground on my stomach underneath the sides of the tent. I glanced left and right. Seeing no samurai, I crawled the rest of the way out and stood.

I was disoriented and had no idea what part of the camp the tent was located in, but I glanced around quickly. Ahead of me were a few more tents, but the treeline outside the camp did not appear to be too far away. That direction was my best choice.

Quickly, I limped from tent to tent, staying as far to the shadows as I could. Fortunately, it was night, which made it easier to hide my escape. There was a small commotion behind me, but I continued forward, going as fast as my leg

would allow. With my limp, I would not get away fast enough. Judging by the commotion, they had already discovered I was missing. I stayed to the left of a tent, glancing around it. There were two samurai, both sitting around a fire. A horse was tied to the branch of a tree near them.

I forced the pain back and concentrated on my fighting technique. Though I had no sword, it would work just the same. I was at the first samurai’s side in seconds. Before he or the other one noticed what was happening. I used my right hand to swing the chain around his neck and grabbed it with my left.

Grunting from the effort, I pulled it as tightly as I could, dragging him backwards as I did so. I jerked the chains to the left with all the power I had in my hands in order to break the samurai’s neck.

As he fell, the other samurai stood and faced me with his katana drawn. I ducked underneath an attack to my upper left shoulder, and grabbed the fallen samurai’s weapon. As I stood back up, I turned my hips so that I directly faced another attack the samurai had intended for my left side. I pressed against his blade with my own, and then swung my right hand just enough so that the chains wrapped around his right wrist. I pulled on them, stepping back as I did so, and jerked his sword out of his hands.

Though I believed I had the upper hand, the moment his hands pulled out a gun that had been strapped behind him, I realized I was wrong. Crouching as low to the ground as I could, I stepped forward toward him. I swung my katana up, cutting the hand that held the gun, right as he fired it. From there, I swung my blade from left-to-right, across the man’s chest.

I had to hurry. The other samurai would have heard the shot and would be there at any second. My trembling hands fumbled to untie the horse, but the ropes

finally came free and I leapt on the horse’s back. The movement sent waves of pain shooting through my right leg. I urged the horse forward and into the woods.

***

I did not stop until I was well across the borders and into Sakamoto clan territory. Only then, did I stop to let the horse eat and drink and tend to my leg. The moment my feet landed on the ground I realized how lightheaded I had become. The wound itself looked like it had gone straight through. It was more severe than a graze, yet less fatal than a clear shot would have been. I quickly started a small fire and heated the blade of the katana I stole. Once it was hot enough, I grabbed a stick and placed it in my mouth. I ripped my hakama, only on the part covering the wound, and pressed the sword up against my thigh. I groaned and then released a muffled scream. My vision blackened for a few seconds, but soon returned after I removed the hot blade. I sat down to rest, drinking some water from the stream. Nearly half an hour later, I was on the horse, riding once again, chewing on a few rykuu leaves to keep the fever at bay.

It took another day before I made it to the outskirts of the rogue army. They had moved a few miles north of where they had been before. I urged the horse forward and carefully avoided their army, heading toward the main road.

That night, I caught up with the samurai that Shinji and I had started out on the mission with. We all sat in a huddle of trees as we exchanged stories on what had happened.

“Where is Shinji?” one of the samurai, Matsui, asked.

I looked down at the ground. “We managed to destroy the cannons and gunpowder, but upon discovering where it was coming from, we were both captured. I managed to escape, but was forced to leave him behind. That is why I am rushing to the capital, to get enough men to accompany my journey back to him.”

Matsui furrowed his eyebrows.

Another samurai, Sasaki, spoke up. “All we were able to discover about who provides the weapons was a watchman for the Iwashita clan. We cut him down quickly after we had destroyed the weapons.”

“So, you were successful?” I asked.

Matsui nodded. “All of the cannons were destroyed, as was the gunpowder.”

I nodded, pursing my lips. “So, this watchman was the mediator between the Iwashita and the rogue army?”

Sasaki nodded. “Yes. There were two more mentioned by name, but they were currently within the Iwashita army camp, and our mission was not to infiltrate the Iwashita army camp.”

“When we return for Shinji, we can take care of the other two watchmen.”

Sasaki nodded, agreeing with Matsui.

I cleared my throat. “I am afraid to inform you both that the watchmen you took care of, though he may have been a mediator, he was not the person in charge of providing the Iwashita or the rogue army with the ancient weapons.”

Matsui frowned, his dark eyes ungentle, focusing on the mission only, and unconcerned with anything else. “Who is, then?”

“A stranger, a foreigner, not from this land.”

Sasaki’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

“It is hard to believe. It is said that our people came here generations ago, and that we were the sole inhabitants. It was not until the clans were established to provide order and stability, that we became separated in each other’s eyes,” Matsui explained. He could have been my father. He was about the same age, his hair black, yet graying in some places, his expression full of wisdom and experience.

I knew the ancient stories and myths as well as anyone; they were stories told to children at nighttime, stories told in the battle camps as entertainment. “Regardless of ancient myths and legends, the fact is that we are still all similar here, no matter the clan or loyalty or family. This—this stranger…was someone I had never seen before… never even seen the like of before. He was powerful, so much so that even Emperor Iwashita answered to him.”

Matsui furrowed his eyebrows. “They must have some sort of a deal and the stranger is holding something over Iwashita’s head.”

Sasaki nodded in agreement. “But what?”

Matsui shrugged. “When we can figure that out, we will be able to find the leverage we need to stop the stranger.”

I could only hope that we would arrive in time to save Shinji before it was too late.

Chapter Twenty-Five

MEGUMI

Akari sat on a tatami mat informing me of the events that transpired on her quest. Another samurai sat beside her, one that had scouted the rogue army camp, while she and the ronin, Shinji, had traveled on to the Iwashita army camp.

“I was able to escape, but was forced, due to an injury and oncoming samurai, to leave Shinji behind.” Though her tone was strictly business, there was an undertone to it; something deeper I had caught myself having while speaking of Ryosuke on various occasions.

I tried to keep pity out of my tone, but found myself unable to hide it. “Akari, I am sorry that this happened.” After a short pause, I continued., though I hated to, I knew it was necessary. “Was your mission successful?”

She hesitated. “We were able to destroy the gunpowder and cannons, yes.”

The other samurai spoke up when Akari did not continue. “We were as well, Empress Sakamoto. We were also able to find one watchman used as a mediator between the rogue army and the main Iwashita army. However, there are more.” The other samurai, though quite some years older than Akari, looked to her to finish speaking.

“There is a foreigner—a stranger, unlike any I have ever seen before—who has made some kind of a deal with Emperor Iwashita. From their interactions, Iwashita appears to answer to the stranger. He is very powerful and dangerous. Due to our capture, I was unable to defeat him. He and Iwashita still hold Shinji prisoner. Empress, I apologize for my failure, to Shinji as a fellow comrade, and to you and this clan, as a samurai.” She bowed deeply, keeping her face low to the floor.

“Empress, if Okada is at fault, then so am I for having not ensured they were all right. When they took longer than expected, I should have gone to ensure their safety and that their mission had been complete. The fault is also mine, Empress. I apologize for my failure as well.” The older samurai bowed just as low as Akari had.

“Raise your heads. The stranger—this foreigner—was an unexpected addition to the mission itself, therefore both of your missions have been complete in my eyes. You did an excellent job, Akari. Your priority now should be to retrieve Shinji and deal with the other watchmen, as well as this foreigner, if you can. Let Shinji be your top priority. Get him to safety and then, if you are able, deal with the stranger.”

Akari rose, but lowered her head in a gesture of thanks. She looked as if she was about to speak, but Ryosuke, who was sitting quietly to my right, spoke out.

“Empress Sakamoto, if I may suggest something…”

I gestured for him to speak.

He glanced at both of the samurai. “We have never dealt with any foreigners for centuries. If he is a true stranger to this world, then it’s possible he is part of something bigger… more than any of us can understand. It would be wise to follow him first and find out as much information on him as you can, before striking. If he is powerful, then it will not be easy to cut him down. There could also be more like him, from his own clan. If that is the case, you need to discover where he’s from and why he’s here.”

Akari nodded, frowning deeply. Her furrowed eyebrows created a crease in the middle of her forehead, though she said nothing.

“Akari, you know the specifics of the situation Shinji is in. I leave it to you to choose how many samurai to accompany you, as well as who can go. You can converse with Ryosuke on the matter of specific samurai, if you must. Just inform me about how many men are accompanying you before you leave on your journey.”

She nodded. “Yes, Empress Sakamoto.” She bowed.

After the others had left, she hesitated at the shoji. “Empress, if I might speak to you in private?”

I nodded.

She shut the shoji, and sat back down on her mat. “This stranger—there is something unnerving about him. When I say that he is powerful, I am not

referring to his sword techniques. I never actually saw him fight.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “What did you mean, then?”

She hesitated.

“Akari, I have come to think of you as a friend, long before you were ever my advisor, and I assure you, whatever it is, you can trust me. I am here for you.”

She nodded. “He had this….aura about him—powerful and dark. I do not even know how to explain it. He did something to Shinji, and he and Iwashita used the word ‘Corrupted’ many times. I do not understand what is going on, but he is, as General Kurosawa said, part of something bigger—much bigger—than any of us. I do not know if it is possible to cut him down at all.”

“Your priority should be where your heart truly lies. Focusing on another mission when your heart is somewhere else is not wise. You could get yourself killed that way.”

Akari’s eyes widened. “With all due respect, I am a samurai. I will not—“

“Akari.” I smiled warmly at her. “I am not scolding you. I also know that if it were me, I would not trust anyone but myself to rescue the man I loved. You focus on freeing Shinji. Let the others you bring along spy on the stranger and deal with the watchmen.”

She smiled back. “Thank you, Megumi.”

***

Hours later, I was walking toward the dojo grounds. As I watched several of the samurai finishing up their training for the day, I pictured myself there with my katana. I pictured my feet moving with the flow of the technique, zipping backand-forth quickly, slicing left and right faster than an untrained swordsman could see.

“You miss it, don’t you, Megumi?” I instantly recognized the low, husky voice in my ear. I blinked to see Ryosuke leaning against a tree across from where I was standing. We were only a few feet apart. His arms were crossed, and his expression was tired, but his eyes were steady as they rested on mine.

Without hesitation, I nodded.

“Did you wish to speak with me, Empress Sakamoto?” he asked suddenly, bowing low at the waist. I realized that a few lingering samurai had come close as they walked past. When they heard him speak, they all stopped and bowed to me.

“Yes, please lead me to your office, General Kurosawa.”

He nodded and walked in front of me until we were inside his office. Politely, he waited for me to sit down before he shut the shoji and sat down on a tatami mat. “What is wrong?” he asked quietly.

“Have you heard any more news on the investigation on Tezuka?”

He shook his head. “Whatever letter Toshi heard of had already been cleaned out by the time we got there. We have continued searching his office and his home, questioning him and his advisor relentlessly, but have found no answers and no proof, other than what Toshi overheard.”

I frowned. “His advisor must have already cleaned out all the evidence by the time you arrived. But how did he do that so quickly?”

Ryosuke shrugged. “He either knew of Tezuka’s arrest and had just enough time to destroy it, or had it already delivered to the Iwashita army.”

“The latter is more likely,” I muttered.

Ryosuke nodded in agreement. “However, with the generals watching your every move, it would be wise to refrain from executing Tezuka. Though he has betrayed us, and would normally require execution by law, executing him without evidence is just the sort of slip-up the generals are waiting for.”

“What should I do, then?”

Ryosuke met my gaze evenly with his own. “I would leave him in prison to rot.”

I nodded. “Very well. Also, did Akari come see you about which samurai to bring along on her journey?”

“She spoke with me briefly about it. She and Matsui, the eighth squad commander under General Hattori, have agreed to travel together. He is taking his whole squad, a total of ten samurai, along with them. She said she intended to see you just before they left, at sundown.”

“Sundown? She only arrived just this morning…”

Ryosuke shrugged.

“I imagine she is in a hurry to rescue Shinji.” My heart ached for her; if Ryosuke was captured, I would waste little time for his rescue as well. I could not imagine anything happening to him.

Ryosuke’s expression instantly turned harsh, and he frowned.

“Do you still not trust him?”

“Megumi, I do not trust anyone, not in times like these. The fact that he happened to get himself taken prisoner does not help to strengthen my trust in him either.”

“Akari was there and she was visibly upset about all that had happened. I believe and trust her.”

“I believe and trust you, but I also am here to advise and protect you with my life, Megumi. We have too many unknown loyalties, too many factors to deal with right now without adding more to it.”

“I know. But this way Akari will rescue him and get what she wants, what she needs, and the other samurai will be there to deal with the watchmen and the stranger.”

“And also be there to ensure Okada and the ronin do not betray us,” Ryosuke quickly replied.

“Ryosuke, what did you do?”

“After hearing that Matsui’s squad would be going with them, I informed my oldest and closest friend, Sasake, to watch Okada and the ronin closely.”

“Ryosuke! They have enough of a mission to deal with and do not need to be distracted—“

“It is done. He will watch their every move, and I have ordered him to act the minute he sees betrayal or treachery.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

AKARI

Matsui and I spoke with the High General of our decision to travel together. It had been Matsui’s idea to bring along his entire squad. I was not sure that having more samurai along would help or hinder us, but after deciding to split up the tasks, it would leave me free to completely focus on Shinji.

No matter the cost, I would get Shinji out of there.

We traveled quickly, stopping only when we needed to and fortunately, we arrived at the border with a quick pace of only two days, and then, in a few hours, we had made it to the Iwashita camp. My injury was healed, and this time I was sure to come prepared. I nodded to Matsui. We had stopped about a mile away from the camp so he could give out orders to his men. Four groups of two men to deal with the four watchmen that were left, and Matsui and his second would spy on the stranger and recover information. I would rescue Shinji and then we would all meet and discuss what we would do from there.

Fortunately, night had fallen and it was the week of the high moon, which meant it was a great deal farther away than normal, providing less light. The shadows were my friends as I snuck through the camp. I took it agonizingly slow; I did not want to draw unneeded attention to myself. God was with me; I reached the prisoner tent with no problems or discoveries.

I snuck around toward the right side of the tent, where I had escaped before. The only samurai guarding it were two at the front, and from what little light the scattered lanterns gave off, two in the back.

As I faced the right side of the prisoner tent, I stayed in a crouch behind another smaller tent a few yards away. Just before I slipped into the shadows, I noticed a samurai standing guard at the side too.

I cursed under my breath, placing my hand on my katana. Using the shadows to hide in, I sneaked out from behind the tent I was at and hid in a bush only feet away from the samurai standing guard.

I silently slipped up behind him and stabbed his heart. In the same moment, I grabbed his mouth to muffle his scream and pulled his body into the bush. Quickly, I crawled under the tent and stood up.

I froze, biting my lip to keep from screaming.

Shinji was chained just as he had been when I had left him. It was obvious that the chains were the only things keeping him standing. His chest was bare, leaving his ragged hakama covering his waist and legs. His skin was as pale as the snow in the winter months. Sweat covered him in a thin layer completely. His veins stood out, thick and black, a horrid sight against the paleness of his skin and his expression was pure agony. When he opened his eyes, they held exhaustion and pain. They were the color of the starless night sky—darker than any eyes I had ever seen before. The color flickered and faded, as if something was fighting against the blackness inside them.

The air was stale and heavy. It took every ounce of strength I had to keep my body standing upright. In order to be able to breathe, I had to force the air out of my lungs in large gasps. I realized the dark fog covered everything… although I could see perfectly.

I forced my feet to move, one step in front of the other until I stood before Shinji.

His eyes, up close, looked glassy. These were not the eyes I had grown accustomed to. These were the eyes of an ageless void that mirrored what I had seen in the stranger’s eyes before. When he finally seemed to focus on me, he jerked toward me wildly. He grunted and growled, a hoarse, low sound deep inside his chest.

I flinched, but did not move away. “Shinji… Shinji… it is me…!”

At the sound of my voice, his muscles twitched. “A—Akari?”

My heart jumped at the sound of his voice. It was hoarse and nearly inaudible. I had to strain to understand the words he was saying.

“Yes, Shinji, it is me, Okada Akari.”

His eyes flickered again and finally the whites surrounding his eyes shoved through the blackness. The color pushed against the black, and though it seemed to hesitate, the blackness finally disappeared and his normal, dark— though

lighter than the black color they had been before— eyes returned. He grunted and blinked several times before the glassiness faded from his eyes. This time, when his eyes met mine, he looked at me, really looked. “Akari…” he murmured, so low it was barely a spoken sound at all.

I smiled at him, unable to stop the two tears that escaped out my eyes. As I blinked back the rest, I pulled out the handful of lock-picks I had brought with me. I used the first one on his right wrist, fiddling with the lock until it clicked and then I turned it, popping the lock open. His right arm fell down as if he was not in control of his own muscles. The lock-pick was fine, so I moved on to his left wrist and did the same. I took my time, remaining calm so that I could focus and not break the lock-pick. The lock popped open.

His upper body fell forward and I was forced to put my hands out to catch his chest. He grabbed onto the posts with both of his wrists, his jaw clenched tightly with effort.

There was no doubt he had no strength left, yet he forced himself to stay upright as I picked the locks around his ankles. It was as if the only thing holding him upright was sheer will alone. The moment the last lock popped open, he completely collapsed onto the ground, his muscles sagging in silent relief.

His jaw clenched tighter and he winced—a light movement that I nearly missed —as I assumed feeling came back to his sore and pained body.

“We do not have much time. We must get you out of here; you have to force yourself to stand!”

Shinji nodded. He reached out to grab the post to my right with both of his hands and tried to stand, grunting with the effort. I hurried and grabbed his waist to help prop him upright. He swayed and the weight made me stagger, but I slipped into a firmer stance and slung his arm around my shoulder. Together, we shuffled over to the side of the tent I had come through. Fortunately, it was much easier for both of us to kneel on the ground and crawl out of the tent. As soon as we were outside, I grabbed his arm and put it over my shoulder once again. Immediately, I headed for the bush and crouched down to hide for a moment, breathing heavily.

No one had noticed the body yet. Off to my left, a squadron of samurai was heading this direction.

“Shift change,” Shinji muttered softly.

Though we were hidden, the bush was too small. If the group of samurai ed us, they would immediately see us. There was at least ten, if not more, samurai in the squadron. I could fight them off, but it would take time, and attract attention. Fighting them while trying to ensure they did not notice Shinji would put me in a great disadvantage.

I quickly shoved Shinji down to the ground so that he was perfectly flat. He would be hidden, but I would have to move. I sprinted forward as fast as my legs could carry me until I reached another tent across from the prisoners’ tent. Kneeling, I stayed out of sight until the squadron of samurai had ed. The rest of them went on ahead to change out with the other samurai around the prisoner’s tent, except for one, who was looking around the side of the prisoner’s tent. He was only three feet away from the bush.

Before he could notice Shinji, I lunged toward him at full speed, unsheathing my

katana in the same movement. I stabbed the blade into his throat, and placed my hands over his mouth and nose to muffle the gurgles he made. Carefully, I caught his body so it would not thud, and then dragged him into the bush. I left his body on top of the other samurai I had killed, and then returned my katana to its sheath. With a deep breath, I grabbed Shinij’s arms and led him behind the same tent I had hidden in before.

I tried to move as quickly as possible before the samurai guards either noticed he was gone, or noticed the two missing samurai I had killed. Yet, I had to be quiet and had to avoid being seen. It was slower than I had hoped for, and we were nearly caught twice, but finally, after weaving in and around tents, avoiding lanterns, sticking to the shadows, and having to quietly kill another samurai, we reached the edge of the forest surrounding the Iwashita camp.

Because I was ing most of his weight, I had a hard time walking. My legs shook, and I had to force the ache in my muscles away. However much they hurt, I knew his were so much worse. His whole body was shaking and his breathing was hard and uneven by the time we stopped.

The sun was peaking over the edge of the horizon, painting the sky brilliant cascades of pink and purple. We sat in a circle of trees with trunks as white as the snow in winter covered by an army of purple colored vines that seemed to hug and wind around the trunks like arms. Though most of the leaves were a mixture of green, the pale rays of the sun gleamed off the leaves, making them appear more golden than green. There was one tree, though, with a trunk the color of dirt, and petals white and pink, matching the colors of the edge of the sky, and the fading stars in the distance. It was a cherry blossom, so achingly beautiful, standing out from among the other trees which surrounded it.

As I looked at Shinji, resting against its trunk, his eyes closed, his chest heaving up-and-down violently, I realized how much it seemed to suit him; physically yes, but it was more than that. He stood out just as much, if not more, than that

cherry blossom tree. He was beautiful, more than just physically. His soul was beautiful in a sad sort of way that made my chest ache and my heart twinge. Though on the outside he appeared like a wild brute; uncaring and joking in a snide way, underneath all of that was a man who believed in the sword and believed in honor.

“You idiot,” he muttered.

I flinched, more out of surprise that he had spoken and then frowned. “What?”

He smirked without opening his eyes. I could not help the sigh that escaped my lips to see it back on his face again. “You came back to the very heart of your enemies. You could have been killed, woman! Then your Empress would have been left without her most valuable samurai.”

I smiled. “That is the very reason why I was able to rescue you and keep myself alive in the process.”

Shinji chuckled lightly.

“We did not just come back for you. As soon as we rest, I must meet up with other samurai to continue our mission.”

Shinji finally opened his eyes, glaring at me. “What mission?”

I hesitated.

“You mean after everything, you’re picking now not to trust me?” he asked in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes. “I do not know what your father or that stranger did to you. I do not understand any of it, so it has nothing to do with trust at all.”

Shinji swallowed, but kept his cold eyes firmly on mine. “My father has always been a cruel man, but some months ago I realized he was changing. He’d always been cruel, but this… this was something different, something… darker. Something that I couldn’t explain. When I met the stranger, I realized whatever had been inside my father all those years that made him a cruel man had only been under the surface. This stranger, whoever he is, brought all that to life inside my father. Whatever he was doing to me, or trying to do, was to bring that to life inside me, too.”

I pursed my lips, silent for a few seconds while I tried to come up with a way to respond. “Whatever they were trying to fill you with, I could feel it—the raw power and… heaviness. Inside the tent, I—there was this fog and it made the air heavy. I had no idea what was happening, and I still do not, but all I knew was that something was wrong.”

Shinji nodded. Though he said nothing, his eyes said what his mouth could not: that he knew exactly what I was talking about.

***

Hours later, we had drunk water from a nearby stream, ate some fruit I had picked for us, rested, and then began walking again. At last, we finally came to the place where I was supposed to meet with Matsui and his men. Shinji was still extremely weak and had needed my help while walking. He hated having to it it, but as a swordsman, it would have been foolish not to it when his body was in a weakened state, especially against a stronger opponent. And though Shinji was not fighting anyone outwardly, his body was fighting; exhaustion, fatigue, and the effects from whatever Iwashita and the stranger did to him.

Matsui smiled when he saw us approaching. “It is good to see that you rescued him successfully.”

Nodding, I helped Shinji down to the ground to lean against a tree trunk. I knelt beside him, tucking my legs underneath me as I faced Matsui. “I was able to rescue Shinji without any problems. What happened with you?”

“All four of the other watchmen were cut down as they were supposed to. Only one of my men were injured in the fight against one of the watchmen who was a stronger opponent than anticipated.”

“And what did you discover about the stranger?”

Matsui frowned. “At first, we could not find him. We searched the entire camp, but he was nowhere to be found. So, we began listening to Iwashita and some of his more important men. After a while, it was discovered that the stranger left— once he had delivered the weapons, he only stayed for a few hours before he left this land… disappearing to wherever he came from.”

I frowned. “How could a man, a foreigner who looks nothing like us, or any of the other clans, just randomly appear out of thin air, providing ancient weapons that have not been used for centuries, and then disappear again?”

Matsui’s eyebrows creased as he stayed silent, obviously deep in thought.

I met Shinji’s dark gaze with one of my own. We both knew; because he was something more than any of us expected, more than we could fully understand.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

EMPEROR OSAKI

I sat, my eyes narrowed into thin slits, staring at an older man with beady eyes and white hair. “Koike Nobuo, current secondary advisor of Empress Sakamoto, though you held the same position for her father, Emperor Sakamoto, have been loyal to the Sakamoto clan for years. I have already met with her negotiator, so why is it that you have come today?”

“Empress Sakamoto is a weakling and a fool. She is not fit to lead a tea ceremony, much less our entire clan. Her father, on the other hand, was wise and calculating. He was an Emperor as well as a samurai, and a strategist.”

I narrowed my eyes, only slightly. “Surely, I do not hear treasonous words from you, Koike?”

He smiled. “Of course not, Emperor Osaki. I am here to merely… suggest a proposal.”

“What sort of proposal?”

“You are an ambitious man, Emperor Osaki, and your reputation precedes you. I know of your desires to speak on negotiations regarding marriages between my

clan and yours.”

“So long as the marriages are between more prominent citizens.”

Koike waved a dismissive hand. “Yes, yes, of course. But why not marry someone of higher importance than even the prominent citizens? And in doing so, provide a great alliance between our clans?”

“What is it exactly that you are suggesting?” I asked.

“You, Emperor Osaki, would take Empress Sakamoto as your own bride.”

I smiled. “I am listening.”

Part Two

Chapter Twenty-Eight

MEGUMI

Two years later…

The sounds of battle pierced the nighttime sky. The metallic clash of katana blades as they struck against one another mixed with the shrill cries of men and women yelling and screaming forged an unspeakably harmonic sound. The clack of horses’ hooves, the neighs and whinnies, the thwack of arrows piercing armor, the whoosh of spears being thrown formed a resounding chorus—a chorus of war.

There were no stars. They were blocked out by a mixture of clouds and smoke from the raging battle in the distance. As if to add to the lack of light, it was the time the moon stayed away from the sky, blanketing the world in a darkness that engulfed everything. It gave the world a gray hue to it; the yellow leaves on the trees now appeared silver, and the cherry blossom trees, in bloom once again, appeared gray and withered, their beauty gone, replaced by a darkness that penetrated the night.

I sat atop a fine horse, a mare, dressed in armor as if for battle, although I would never even see one. No, my samurai all did the fighting for me, as did the rest of the army, made up of peasants and lower-class citizens trained in the basics of weaponry —either archery, using simple bows, the naginata, or occasionally, a shield and wakizashi. As this war continued, we had even hired ronin, bought for their skills and swordsmanship.

The Battle for Chatan was several miles away from where I was located, though I did not know how many. My location was far enough away for me to be kept at a safe distance, as well as to be out of eyesight of the battle, yet close enough to hear every sound that resonated around the hills and through the valley.

Ryosuke was somewhere closer to the battle, directing the other generals underneath him, directing the main part of the army itself.

One of those generals, General Matsushima, came riding closer to where I and several of Ryosuke’s most trusted samurai stood guard over me.

“What is it?” I asked, as Matsushima came within hearing range.

Upon seeing me, he frowned. “Empress, what are you doing so close to the battlefield? I had heard rumors you were close… but never in my life would I have imagined such a thing!”

I frowned. If I had two arms, or even more so, if I had been a man, he would not dare to be questioning me. “What do you have to report, Matsushima?” I demanded harshly.

He glared at me for a moment too long, before clearing his throat. “We have managed to push their army deeper into the , and I have received word that Okada and Commander Matsui have rounded the hills to cut off the army’s escape.”

I nodded. “Good work, General. We need to secure this in order to protect the nearby towns and safeguard its trade route.”

He looked at me like an insect he desperately wanted crushed. I was an annoyance to him, nothing more. He had long ago made it known that he did not believe I was suitable to rule, and the fact that I had defied the council’s warning and Ryosuke’s advice in coming here with the army, put an air of intensity around it all. If we lost the and it became overrun, I had willingly put myself in danger of being killed, and our clan was already in a desperate state.

“You should head back to the encampment, Empress, rather than trouble yourself with the aftermath of an unpleasant battle.”

Narrowing my eyes at him, I almost lost my composure and blurted what was really on my mind: how dare you question your Empress? Instead, I refrained from it. I had come here for a reason, and leaving before the battle was over, interfered with that. “Return to your position, General Matsushima, to ensure that your men have their leader with them.”

He nodded and rode off.

Sometime later, the messenger, Toshi, rode toward me and my samurai guards.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“Their archers are taking out the back ranks of General Nomura’s legions.”

I frowned. Matsushima’s men were miles away from the beginning of the , where Nomura’s men were stationed. Thus far, Matsushima’s men had forced the Iwashita to retreat, but if either the rogue army or another clan pushed Nomura away from his position and gained control of the entrance to the …

It could very well turn the tide of the battle.

Akari was out in the field, as was Ryosuke. That only left me one person to turn to for advice, Koike, my secondary advisor.

“Do you need me to deliver a message, Empress?”

I shook my head at Toshi. “No. I must return to the encampment and decide how best to deal with this. I know, however, that there is no time. See if you cannot discover the location of the samurai called Shinji. When you find him, tell him to take what samurai he can spare to hold off the archers as long as they can. And please make haste, Toshi.”

He bowed low, before getting a fresh horse and riding off.

“Come,” I told the other samurai around me. I urged my horse forward and we rode as fast as we could to the encampment.

Chatan consisted four main strongholds, along with several smaller, temporary ones made by both of the Iwashita army and our own. There were several trading posts with numerous trading routes. Once, our army had sole control over the , until half the Iwashita’s main force had taken one of the strongholds and marched through.

The Iwashita had been ed with, not only the rogue army which had grown greatly in number, but with a few other clans as well. Likewise, our own army had grown, increased in the number of samurai, and that of the Sumida clan, and hopefully soon, the Osaki’s as well.

The stronghold that we still held was atop one of the largest hills inside the . Though the valley itself was where the main battle was taking place, the whole was not completely covered in fighting. I had been a few miles away from where the began, where General Nomura was supposed to have held it secured.

Even if I did not need to seek Koike’s counsel, it would be wise for me to retreat to the stronghold for safety. If Nomura fell, then whoever had reinforced the Iwashita would soon be marching through the to meet up with the forces that were in retreat from Matsushima.

The stronghold itself was a stone castle atop a large hill overlooking the deepest part of the . There was a fairly large river running through the stronghold and down the hill, so it had plenty of fresh water, and was well-stocked with food and supplies.

It only took the other samurai and I half an hour of hard riding to reach the stronghold. Once inside, I immediately jumped off my horse and headed straight inside the main part of the castle. It did not take me long to find Koike, who was

seated in the main council chambers, eating.

“Empress Sakamoto, I did not expect to see your presence here. Though, there were rumors you had come to oversee the battle.”

“General Matsushima has the Iwashita’s men in retreat toward the back of the , however, reinforcements have come, and the archers are destroying General Nomura’s ranks where they hold the entrance to the .”

Koike appeared deep in thought. “If they defeat Nomura, then the is open for more men from the other clans to the Iwashita. If that happens, it will only be a matter of time until all of the strongholds belong to them.”

“I dispatched the messenger, Toshi, to find the samurai Shinji to hold off the archers as long as he can.”

“Why not send Okada to him?”

“I need her help to ensure that those of the Iwashita army fleeing do not make it deeper into the , and into the Iwashita stronghold there.”

Koike nodded. “We do not have any extra men to spare. Shinji will have to push the archers back and help that fool Nomura hold his position.”

I turned to the samurai at my side. He was one of Ryosuke’s closest friends, and I knew Ryosuke had trained with him when they had both been at a dojo as children. “Sasake, please go to Nomura and wait there for Shinji and the others. Until they arrive, do what you can to hold off the archers and hold our position there.”

He nodded, bowed, and left.

I glanced awkwardly around the room. Now came the hardest part… waiting for news.

***

Hours later, Toshi had returned to inform me he had found Shinji with Matsui and Akari fighting alongside Matsushima’s men. Shinji had quickly taken Matsui and a few others and ed up with Sasake, and fortunately, they had easily cut down the archers and helped Nomura hold the position. By that time, I sent Toshi back to inform Shinji to return and help Matsushima. Though they had the main force in retreat, the Iwashita samurai had scattered deep into the hills. I needed Shinji to help cut off the army’s escape into the hills, along with only a fourth of Matsushima’s regiment. Shinji was one of the few samurai who knew all the paths through the highlands. It would be easier navigating through the highlands chasing the scattered Iwashita samurai with a few hundred samurai, rather than with Matsushima and his entire force. Toshi returned sometime later, informing me that Shinji had reported in with Matsushima, and to let me know that the Yamada clan forces had taken the only other stronghold that we held inside the . It was not far from this stronghold, only about a day’s ride away.

“Toshi, I need you to order Akari with all the men Matsushima can spare to

overtake the stronghold. Meanwhile, tell Matsui and his squad to return here to reinforce this stronghold. If Yamada is only a day’s ride away, it will not be long before they come here, in hopes of gaining this stronghold for the Iwashita.”

Toshi bowed and left the room. After he left, I sent two more messengers with him to ensure that Akari and Matsui received word.

Though it was only a couple hours, it felt like much longer than that before Matsui arrived, along with what men he could spare from his squad. Altogether, he added an additional ten skilled samurai to the thirty samurai we had around the stronghold, plus the twenty extra foot-soldiers who had basic sword training. It was well into the night, as I had suspected, when fifty Yamada samurai attempted to attack and take over the stronghold.

Our stronghold was in an ideal position—atop a hill, ensuring that the sentries along the wall would see any troops long before they arrived—yet they still managed to use an archer to kill the samurai who had spotted them, and then quickly climbed over the wall. It was not until later that I noticed the quickness and precision in which they fought, how they seemed to know the positions of the samurai, and the ways to avoid detection even as they crossed two more inner walls into the stronghold. Later, I recalled that that meant the spy in my midst had told them our positions.

There had been some noise and commotion and I had assumed that meant the battle had started. Although, I had not realized they had made it into the stronghold itself until the doors crashed open and five or six Yamada samurai entered the room.

Ever since I had become Empress, along with being forced to stop training, I was no longer allowed to wield a katana, not even a wakazashi. An Emperor, perhaps

would have carried both for looks, so that he would not appear weak to his people. I, being an Empress, and a woman with only one arm, was not allowed even that.

With only Sasake, Matsui, and a few other samurai in the room to fight the six or so Yamada samurai, I would much rather have taken my shortened katana and fought alongside them.

Sasake and Matsui dashed forward, and the others in the room guarding me followed them, rushing into the Yamada samurai faster than a normal eye could see. Because of my training, I was able to watch their movements much easier.

They were evenly matched in strength and skill, although Sasake had speed. Watching him, his technique was not unlike the one I myself used, multiple strikes, faster movement, faster footwork. He sliced one samurai down, moving onto another and another.

Matsui, on the other hand, was middle-aged, and somewhat slower than Sasake, although he had strength and experience. He slid his right foot forward and moved into action, charging toward one Yamada samurai with a powerful strike across the right shoulder downward, and then another one sliding back upwards toward the left shoulder in a “V” shape. Another samurai engaged him, as the rest of my protectors attacked the remaining Yamada samurai.

One of the Yamada samurai drew away from the main course of the fighting, and I realized that the original six of them had been ed by a few others. I did not have time to count them all as they entered the room.

The Yamada samurai, a beady-eyed man, charged toward me, katana drawn. His eyes shifted ever-so-slightly and the manner in which he held his wrists indicated where he was going to strike. In an instant, I realized he would be attempting a typical downward stroke, perhaps speculating a downward stroke would be all that was needed to kill me.

Though I had not trained in years, the second I moved, my body reacted as if I had never missed a day. I charged toward him, sliding to his weaker side, the left side. As I moved ed him, I hit my elbow against his wrist, loosening his grip on his katana. Once at his back, I turned faster than he could and struck the back of his neck. With only one arm, I would not be able to attempt a choke hold, only multiple strikes to sensitive places.

He turned then, and though his hold on his sword weakened, he had not dropped it. It would only take him seconds to recover and tighten his hold on it. I ducked under an attack across my chest from right to left, and slid closer toward him, inside his fighting zone. I smacked his wrist with my hand, but he deflected it and attacked toward me. He did not have time to turn his katana, so I had been hit with the back of it across my left shoulder, the shoulder to which no arm was attached. The blow was enough to cause me pain. I gasped and groaned, losing focus for only a second. A second was all he needed to bring his blade back toward me in an attack for the right side of my neck. I barely had enough time to dodge, so I held up my arm to block it.

I hissed in a sharp intake of breath as the blade sliced across my forearm and I gasped and stepped back.

He did not stop, and took full advantage of his now offensive position. If I had a weapon, I would have at least been able to shift to defensive, but I did not have even that luxury. All I could do was evade and dodge as best as I could.

The pain in my shoulder was flaring, and the only arm I had was now rendered useless. I was growing tired; my energy would not last much longer. I had no way of fighting him or getting in a solid attack, so once my energy was spent and I was no longer able to dodge his attacks, he would kill me.

I managed to dodge a strike from his katana, but the tip of his blade lightly cut across my right side. He kicked my left knee out and I collapsed to the ground, exhausted and unable to force my tired muscles to move. All I could muster was a glance up at him to meet the eyes of the samurai who would become my killer, to face him and face death with the dignity of a samurai, even if I was not one in title.

There was a flash and the slash of katana slicing through flesh, only I realized it was not my own. Blood splattered onto the Yamada samurai’s chest armor, and it was then that I saw a blade being pulled out from the samurai’s back. The samurai fell to the ground, coughing and gurgling with his dying breaths, and Ryosuke stood behind him.

He knelt beside me, forgetting for a moment that I was his Empress and he my High General. No, in that moment, we were simply a man and woman who loved one another, who looked at each other in understanding and relief that the other was unharmed.

He ripped the sleeves of my kimono on the left side and placed it against my right side. I quickly grabbed it with my own hand and held it there myself. If he was caught touching me, even for aid, there would still be dire consequences. He tore another sleeve and this time, he had no choice, he placed it against the cut on my arm, and with a quick gracefulness that surprised me, tied it there and then scooted away from me. Unsheathing his katana, he leapt up at the same time that he turned, slicing down another samurai who had charged toward us.

He stayed there, in front of me, killing any Yamada samurai who dared attack in our direction. Once the rest of our samurai in the stronghold realized there had been a sneak attack, they immediately had come to our aid inside the inner chamber. It was not long, perhaps a little under an hour, before the Yamada samurai had all been cut down, unable to escape or to take the time to commit seppuku at their failure. Ryosuke and the other samurai stopped any and all who attempted to restore their honor. They were cowards, Ryosuke said, and did not deserve the honor of splitting open their own stomachs.

Once it was all over and Ryosuke had a chance to speak to me in private, he told me as soon as he heard of the Yamada forces had taken the other stronghold, and that I had ordered Matsui back here, he had left his second in command in charge and had immediately rode here as fast as he could. He had come alone, and had been able to arrive just in time to save my life.

My wounds were tended to, and fortunately, the men who had been fighting in the room had been too distracted to notice that I had fought. Although, I did what had been needed to save my own life, it would have been frowned upon, and would have aroused suspicions whether I still trained or not.

With the generals watching my every move, I did not need any rumors to start spreading. Ryosuke talked with several of the men about the battle, spoke with them as their High General wanting full reports. Later when he had another chance to, he spoke to me privately and informed me that none of the s had mentioned anything of the fight I had been involved in.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

AKARI

I swung my katana, striking men left and right, my movements continuous and flowing. Samurai fought on either side of me, and we moved together, listening for the orders of the commanders and generals.

I charged forward, stabbing one man through the chest. It did not take me but a second to yank my katana free as I turned in a full spin to slice open the stomach of another. Sliding forward with my right foot, I shifted my feet into an offensive stance against another samurai. He blocked my attack for his right shoulder, clanging our blades together. Breathing heavily, I stepped back to recover. It was obvious he was a master bladesman, but there was no arrogance in his expression, only calmness. His left foot shifted backwards and I glided to my right, predicting that he would strike from his right, toward my left side. I predicted correctly, and dodged an attack just in time.

I never stood still.

The second I dodged, I eased into another stance, holding my katana behind me to my left side. I brought it forward and up, slicing from his right lower abdomen, up to his left shoulder. He had been able to dodge part of it, just enough so that the cut was not deep enough to cause much damage. I continued spinning to my right, bringing my blade down from on high to strike him, but he read me and was able to block it.

I ducked downward and slipped my left foot forward, as close to him as I could get. At the same time, I slid my sword forward, so that it sliced his side as I went by. Quickly, I turned, slicing his back before he could move.

As he fell to the ground, I took a moment and stepped behind the line of samurai to catch my breath. The man on my right stepped up to take my place and engaged with an enemy samurai who had lunged toward our line. When it looked as if he was struggling, I charged in beside him and together, we cut him down.

The battle was long and brutal.

I had been hit in the face and my nose was bleeding, my forehead was badly sliced, and I had two minor cuts, one on my arm which, fortunately, did not affect my sword fighting, and one on my left side. Under General Matsushima, the fifteen hundred or so samurai that I fought with was able to push back the Iwashita’s main forces. The main force of Matsushima’s samurai became occupied with finishing off the army.

When the battle finally started to wind down, Shinji found me, with a messenger close behind him. Before I did anything else, I checked to make sure he was unharmed. Aside from a cut to his upper chest, he appeared to be unscathed. The blood that covered him, for the most part, was not his. Internally, I sighed in relief.

“Is everything okay?” I asked as he came closer to me.

The messenger stepped up beside him.

“Orders from the top,” Shinji replied with a grin.

I glanced from him, and finally let my eyes rest on the messenger as he spoke. “Empress Sakamoto has ordered that Shinji accompany what samurai Commander Matsui can spare from the squadron and meet up with Commander Sasake and General Nomura. Reinforcements have come and their archers have nearly taken General Nomura and the others.”

I nodded and turned to fetch a horse.

“Okada, wait.” I turned back to look at the messenger. He bowed in apology. “Sorry, but Empress Sakamoto has ordered that you stay here with General Matsushima to prevent the Iwashita army from escaping farther into the to their stronghold there. You are to take as many men as you need.”

I nodded and met Shinji’s eyes before he and Matsui left with a few other men. I made my way to meet with General Matsushima, who ordered that his men continue pushing the Iwashita army farther into the hills.

“General Matsushima!” I shouted.

He was on a horse, and even if he had not been, he would have looked down at me. “What is it, Okada?” he asked in an annoyed tone.

“Empress Sakamoto has ordered that I cut off the Iwashita army’s escape. I need as many men as you can spare.”

He laughed. “Nonsense! We have the cowards in retreat! There is no need for you to take away men that I need here.”

I glared at him. “We have orders from our Empress!”

He glared back at me in distaste. “You have your orders from me, Okada, your General here on the battlefield. I trust you know what would happen should you disobey.” He smiled, cruel and cold.

I swallowed deeply, bowing, though I kept my eyes on his the entire time, in disrespect. “I understand, General.” I spat the word at him, turned my back on him, and stormed away.

Sprinting as fast as I could, I cut down any straggling Iwashita samurai, even though most of them were in retreat. There were a few too deep in the trees for any of our samurai to see. They knelt on the ground, preparing to commit seppuku.

I quietly stepped behind one of the men and stabbed him in the back of the neck. Tearing my katana from him, I lunged toward a second man who had stood and charged toward me. Fortunately, I was faster, and within seconds he fell to the ground, dead.

Our army chased the Iwashita west, deeper into the valley hills. I headed north, to the outskirts of Matsushima’s regiment and then headed west from there. It would have been faster with a horse, but since I was disobeying orders, I decided against it.

Within six minutes of hard running as fast as my body could carry me, I had reached the edges of the battlefield. They had started off with half a regiment, consisting of fourteen hundred men against Matsushima’s whole regiment of fifteen hundred samurai. This was not even half of what the Iwashita army had, yet at least these men, for now, were in retreat.

I was able to cut down the samurai I came across as they ran toward the hills. Because I was not certain how many had already died on either side, I was not sure how many of the Iwashita men were left. Too many for me to stop all alone, but I refused to ask any samurai to go against General Matsushima’s orders, even if his orders defied the Empress’ own command.

It seemed like hours later when the Iwashita army was too scattered for Matsushima’s men to give chase any longer. By the time I returned to where our army was temporarily making camp, Shinji, Sasake, Matsui, along with his samurai, had returned. They spoke with me, while a group of samurai that had come up with Shinji, stood nearby. I assumed they waited for him. They had successfully cut down the archers and had helped Nomura and his men retake their position at the entrance to the .

“We received word that the Empress wants me and a fourth of the regiment to chase what’s left of the Iwashita men into the highlands, rather than have Matsushima and his entire force do it.” Shinji glanced at me as he spoke.

I glanced at Matsui and Sasake, hesitating. A quick head-nod from me told Shinji that I wanted to speak to him alone. With a sigh, I swallowed deeply. “Megumi ordered me to ensure the Iwashita army did not make it into the hills, but when I told this to Matsushima, he just ordered his men to continue chasing the Iwashita and reminded me of what it would mean to disobey him in the battlefield.”

Shinji closed his eyes and sighed loudly. “What did you do, woman?”

I glared at him furiously. “I did what my Empress ordered me to do! I rounded on the Iwashita, like Matsushima should have done with his men, and cut off what few samurai I could.”

Shinji opened his eyes, glaring at me with a frown on his face.

“Why are you angry at me for doing as I was commanded?”

“Empress Sakamoto is not here on the battlefield, but Matsushima is and he is your commanding officer. Following Matsushima’s orders should’ve been your priority. If he finds out…”

I sighed. “I know, but I had no choice. You would not have to be chasing the leftover regiment into the highlands if Matsushima had just followed orders in the first place!”

Shinji smiled, placing a hand on the right side of my face, almost

absentmindedly tracing my jawline. He tucked my hair behind my ear. “I can’t say I’m surprised at your actions.”

I smiled. We slowly walked back over to where Matsui and Sasake waited. “Will I be accompanying you, Shinji?” I asked.

Shinji shrugged. “We didn’t get any orders about you.”

I glanced at Matsui. “What about you?”

He shook his head. “I have not received any orders either.”

I frowned. “She would have sent word when she ordered Shinji, telling us to either go with him or stay behind. Especially considering the fact that she wants him to go with a fourth of the entire regiment… that’s over three hundred men. You could use the extra help, Shinji.” As I spoke, I realized more and more that something was wrong. The few men who waited patiently for Shinji and stood to the side away from us, was only about twenty-five men or so in number.

Shinji did not seem bothered, although Matsui’s eyes narrowed. “You are right, Okada,” Matsui agreed.

“Delays in messages happen all the time,” Shinji said.

I narrowed my eyes. “Delays, yes; wrong messages altogether, no.”

Ironically, it was that moment that we all heard someone shouting. As the shouting grew closer, I realized it was a messenger.

Though it was not the same one that had been carrying messages before. “The Yamada clan has taken our second stronghold from General Taketa! Empress Sakamoto has ordered that Okada Akari take whatever men General Matsushima can spare to retake the stronghold. Meanwhile, she has ordered that Matsui and his squadron return to the main stronghold to protect Koike Nobuo and Empress Sakamoto herself. “

I nodded. “I will speak with Matsushima to see what men he can spare. You come with me to relay the orders from Empress Sakamoto to the general.”

The messenger nodded.

“What about me? Did my orders change?” Shinji asked.

The messenger shook his head. “No. Empress Sakamoto needs you to cut off the Iwashita army in the highlands first and foremost.”

Shinji nodded and left in the direction of the horses, as the waiting samurai followed closely behind him. Matsui and Sasaki left in the direction of where Matsui’s squadron was awaiting their orders. The messenger and I relayed the message to General Matsushima and informed him of Shinji’s orders, as well as

Matsui’s. He ordered me to take twenty samurai to retake the fort. He ordered a commander named Ida, and his entire squad to accompany me.

***

Nearly half an hour later, we had arrived at the outskirts of the stronghold. Unlike the other strongholds inside the , it was more of a fort than a small castle, and the entire place was made of wood, even the outer walls. Asano and a few of the watchmen were in the area when we stopped to plan. Asano informed us that nearly all of General Taketa’s samurai had been cut down inside, and only a few were left alive as prisoners.

“They hung General Taketa’s body at the entrance of the fort,” Asano murmured gravely.

I swallowed deeply.

“Our priority is to retake the fort, although if possible, we need to try to rescue the prisoners alive.” Ida glanced at all of us one at a time as he spoke.

Minutes later, once Asano had informed us of how many Yamada samurai were inside—a total of thirty-three men from what Asano counted—and we thought sneaking inside the stronghold would be our best choice. Charging in outright would be foolish considering the numbers were not on our side, and lighting the stronghold ablaze was out of the question. We needed it intact.

Minutes later, each of us was in position according to our plan. My place was toward the back of the stronghold and fortunately there was a tree about five feet or so away from the wall, which made it easy for me to scale it as high as I could. From the branch I stood on, I could just barely see over the top of the wall. I was about a foot lower than the top and about three feet away from the southeast corner. There were two samurai—one patrolling the east side and one patrolling the south side—and they each had about a thirty-yard pace as they walked along their walls. I faced the south side as I jumped from the tree to the wall.

Gritting my teeth, I reached for the top of the wall with my hands. The wood dug into the palms of my hands as I just barely caught it. I waited, making note of where the lanterns were. Once both samurai had timed their paces so that their backs were toward me, I pulled myself up and over the wall, landing quietly on my feet.

One of the samurai, the one pacing the wall I had just handed on, turned to face me. I stayed in the shadows, but he had seen me. I darted forward, unsheathing my katana and struck him in the heart. As he began to rasp, I covered his mouth to muffle the sound as he died. Before the other samurai could see, I yanked the first one’s body into the shadows between two lanterns, out of sight.

When the second samurai started his patrol with his back toward me again, I sprinted forward and stabbed him in the back of the neck. Once again, I muffled the dying gurgles and pulled his body into the shadows as well. I knelt in the shadows of the wall myself, looking for more samurai.

My job, along with Asano and Ida and a few of the other, stealthier samurai, was to find the main commander or general and kill him. Meanwhile, the other samurai who had sneaked in with us were to kill as many of the Yamada samurai as they could, as quietly and quickly as possible.

A general would most likely be in the innermost part of the stronghold. I glanced around, getting a feel for how the stronghold looked. Compared to the other ones I had seen, it was a rather small one, a seventy foot square. The biggest structure was in the center, so I decided to head there first.

I found a wooden staircase and climbed off the wall. At the bottom of the stairs stood two more samurai.

I sliced my katana across both of their backs, and continued the movement to slice the throat of another one on the right. The first groaned in pain and unsheathed his katana, so I slid my right foot in closer and stabbed his lower abdomen. I pulled all three of their bodies underneath the staircase and waited, in case the sounds attracted more samurai.

Another one, who, from the looks of it, patrolled the area, came to the staircase and paused.

I slid one of the fallen samurai’s yari through the staircase and stabbed him in the heart. As his body fell, I caught it in enough time to keep it from making a thud. His body ed the others beneath the staircase and when I was finished, I jogged to the nearest shadow to the side of the main building.

Once inside, there were samurai wondering around, going through the hallways, and sliding open and closing shojis. Two were sitting on tatami mats, eating rice, and drinking sake. Another one ran back-and-forth, going in and out the main shoji several times, obviously relaying messages.

After his third time leaving, he did not return.

I was hidden in the shadows behind one of two wooden pillars that held the entire place up. To my right was a hallway, and there was one directly across from me, but on the other side of the room, a good twenty feet or so away. I waited until there was no more movement, and no more samurai in the room except for the ones eating. They were to my left, one with his back facing me, and another to the side. Rather than kill them, I waited until the one on the side had his attention diverted, and then crept down the hallway.

Walking in from the end of the hallway was another samurai.

As soon as he met my eyes, his thumb flicked his katana inches out of its sheath. I darted toward him, slicing downward right-to-left, and then upwards from left to right across his chest, as I was moving past him. The second I was past him, I turned, and as I did so, stabbed the back of his neck. I quickly pulled out my blade and eased his body to the floor, praying that the other two samurai did not hear.

“What was that?” one of them asked.

I quickly left his body where he lay until I reached the end of the hallway. Instead of ending at a wall, it ended at a shoji. I slid it open just enough for me to squeeze through, then quickly shut it behind me, hoping they did not hear that either.

As soon as I was in the room, I had only seconds to take in my surroundings.

At the sound of the shoji opening, a samurai who had been sitting on a tatami mat in front of a low desk going through papers, looked up at me. His eyes glanced over me, saw the blood on my katana, and then widened. I moved toward him, slicing my blade toward the right side of his neck.

He had stood up, and pulled out his own weapon all within enough time to block my attack. His katana pushed mine back as he stepped forward, immediately inside my zone. He sliced rapidly, to my left side and then to my right, faster than I expected.

I blocked the first attack only by chance, with my weapon’s hilt. The second attack I missed, so his blade nicked my right side, just below my rib cage. I stepped back, gasping for air.

He did not pause. Relentlessly, he lunged back inside my zone again, attacking upwards to the side of my neck, then downwards to my lower abdomen, then toward my left shoulder. It was all I could do to block him fast enough.

His blade sliced my upper left arm, and then he moved in toward my neck.

At that moment, I saw the movement. It was so small, I understood why I had missed it before. Before he attacked, his right wrist shifted, giving him freer and quicker movements with his sword. I slipped out of the way of his attack and danced behind him, cutting his neck as I turned around to stab his back.

He dodged at the last second, so that it missed his heart and landed in his left rib

cage. He swung his blade wildly so, but I easily evaded him and then yanked my katana out of his chest.

As he fell, the shoji burst open as several samurai charged into the room. There were at least six of them, and I was injured.

They stood in a half circle formation, attempting to surround me. At once, the two in the center charged toward me. I twisted to the right, avoiding an attack from the one on the left, then crouched down to avoid another attack from the one on the right toward my head. I slid my sword from right-to-left, hitting both of their lower abdomens.

As I stood, I whirled around just in time to block another attack. With a grunt, I pressed against his blade, which made him stumble backward, as another katana sliced the back of my right shoulder. The blow caused me to stumble, but the samurai’s blade was not as sharp and therefore, the damage was not as bad as it could have been.

At that moment, more men charged into the room, wearing the colors of the Sakamoto. I smiled as I sliced right, hitting the Yamada samurai who had stumbled, then continued that movement to block an attack coming from my left. I pressed against it, shifting my sword left and forward. The movement confused him and he blocked the leftwards attack, but missed the forward thrust into his chest.

I quickly pulled out my katana and blocked an attack from the other samurai behind me. He attacked me multiple times and though I blocked every attack, I could not gain the offensive against him. At last, one of the Sakamoto samurai had killed a different Yamada samurai, which caused him to fall into the samurai I fought. It distracted him, only for a second.

That was all I needed.

With the distraction, I stepped into his zone and pierced his throat. Feebly, his hands jerked upward in a last attempt to attack me, but I kicked his body to the ground.

I stopped, breathing hard as I looked around the room. More Yamada samurai had entered the room, but the Sakamoto samurai were cutting them down quickly.

Ida gave the order to his men to chase after the few Yamada samurai who were attempting to flee the stronghold. Once a few samurai, including Asano, had run off to stop them, Ida came up to me, smiling. “After the last of the Yamada samurai are finished off, we will have taken the fort. For now, it is ours.”

Chapter Thirty

MEGUMI

The battle for Chatan continued for several more days. What I had originally hoped would last naught but a week or two at most ended up lasting an entire month before it was over.

The day following the Yamada clan’s attack to our main stronghold, Koike, along with a few of the generals, and Asano, who had returned from fighting alongside Akari and the other samurai, met with me and insisted that the next priority should be to get me out of the .

Ryosuke was furious. “That is a foolish idea! When word gets out that not only is our Empress here inside the , but that she is openly traveling through the as well, all the Iwashita, and even the Yamada’s forces will converge to try to kill her. Now that she is here, she must stay here and wait this out, just like the rest of us.”

He met my eyes for only a few seconds, and though he appeared furious, there was a split second where I saw his old expression, one of assurance and trust, before he looked away.

“What of Okada Akari and Commander Ida’s troops that were sent to overtake the Yamada stronghold?” one of the generals asked.

“I received word just before the meeting that during the night they were able to retake the stronghold, and all the Yamada samurai inside were cut down. Commander Ida’s squadron of twenty samurai only had two samurai who were killed and three severely wounded, but alive.” I kept my voice level as I spoke.

General Matsushima glanced around the room, avoiding my eyes. “What of General Taketa? Did the Yamada cowards kill him with honor and dignity?”

I pursed my lips, shaking my head. “No. The messenger was very clear in reporting that General Taketa was beheaded and his impaled body was hung at the entrance of the stronghold, and his head placed on a pike. Commander Ida and his squad gave him a proper burial once the stronghold was secured. As for General Taketa’s samurai, all were killed except for three, who were kept and tortured as prisoners. One was killed during the battle to take back the stronghold, and another died from his injuries this morning. The last one is still inside the stronghold, and it is unsure whether he will survive or not.”

The generals all murmured about this for a few minutes, until General Matsushima spoke. “Might I suggest we send at least fifteen more samurai to ensure that the stronghold does not fall again? After all, General Taketa had thirty-five men, nearly a fifth of his entire regiment, and it fell. Now there are only sixteen samurai within the stronghold who are still able to fight.”

Asano nodded. “It would be best to send in samurai to reinforce it.”

I nodded. “Very well. General Matsushima, send another squadron of your men to reinforce Commander Ida inside the stronghold.”

He nodded in response. “Yes, Empress.”

Koike spoke up, then, addressing an entirely different issue. “Have we heard word of the Iwashita forces that fled into the hills?”

I nodded. “We received word hours ago from some of Asano’s watchmen, that though the Iwashita forces are depleted, those that lived returned to the stronghold that they hold inside the , toward the northwestern highlands. Is that correct, Asano?” I met Asano’s eyes as I asked the question.

Asano nodded. “Yes, Empress. My men have confirmed that at least three hundred and fifty six Iwashita samurai remain in that stronghold. Out of the regiment that fought against General Matsushima, starting off with fourteen hundred men, it was estimated that eight hundred and thirty nine were killed. That leaves over two hundred of them uned for.”

“Has there been any word from Shinji and the others who were supposed to have hunted them down?” Ryosuke asked.

Asano shook his head. “We have not received word about Shinji or his whereabouts.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, frowning.

“How many men were in the stronghold originally?” Ryosuke asked.

Asano stroked his chin, deep in thought for a few seconds. “One hundred and forty two, if I correctly. Why do you ask?”

Ryosuke was silent for nearly a minute, before he answered. “That means that the stronghold gained two hundred and fourteen men.”

“Only two hundred and fourteen?” I asked. Everyone looked at me as I spoke, as if surprised by my surprise. “If over eight hundred of the Iwashita forces were killed in battle, that leaves around five hundred or so that remained living and escaped into the hills. Out of that five hundred, only two hundred made it to the stronghold?” When everyone in the council room still stared at me with blank faces, I continued. “Where did the other three hundred go?”

“Perhaps Shinji did his job and disposed of them,” Koike suggested.

Asano and Ryosuke’s frowns mirrored mine, I was certain. I glanced at Asano, and then at General Matsushima. “Do either of you know the number of men that accompanied Shinji when he left the battlefield?”

Matsushima cocked his head, as if in thought, as Asano shook his head. Matsushima spoke up after a minute. “Empress Sakamoto, with all due respect, the battlefield is an extremely large place. The care of fifteen hundred men was placed upon my shoulders, and as such, my main focus is to keep them alive, or give them honorable deaths if that is what must happen. My job as a general in your army is to win the battle and take it from our enemies. My focus was on my mission as a general alone, and not on the smaller actions of each of the fifteen

hundred men who serve underneath me. That is what their squadrons and commanders are for. Even then, four hundred and eighty six of my samurai fell in the battle. It is understandable that a woman such as yourself would not understand the details of what happens on the battlefield.”

Ryosuke’s eyes narrowed directly on Matsushima.

Though I clenched my fist underneath my kimono, I kept my face imive. “Of course, General Matsushima. I was not stating otherwise. I was only hoping to discover if any of the Iwashita samurai that are uned for were killed in either the aftermath of the battle, or in attempting to flee, or if perhaps something else happened.”

Matsushima smiled, though his eyes looked at me with distaste. “Of course, Empress.”

As the meeting continued, it was decided that our concentration should be on taking the last Iwashita stronghold. Orders were issued to bring the scattered forces into a single unit and called all available samurai to us, except for those necessary to hold our strongholds within the .

“We will need every samurai involved in this. It would also be wise if High General Kurosawa would be present for this as well,” Matsushima suggested.

“Nonsense! If he were to fall in battle without an heir, we would lose our High General! Now is not the time for that sort of internal conflict within our own clan,” Koike said.

“He would be away from the worst of the fighting, naturally,” Matsushima protested smoothly.

“His presence would improve morale amongst the samurai,” another general, General Hattori, agreed.

“If I am ordered to go, I will not stand back like a coward. I will fight by my men and if need be, I will die with them.” Ryosuke’s lips were in a firm, thin line and his eyes were full of determination and pride as a samurai.

“What do you say, Empress Sakamoto?” Asano asked.

I glanced down, thinking. Deep inside, the selfish part of me wished for Ryosuke to stay here, doing his duty as High General away from the fighting. Yet I knew his heart longed for battle. When he became High General, he was forced to watch from afar as his men fought and died. It ate at him, and I knew that with all his heart, he wanted to be there to fight and protect his men himself, rather than sit and deal with all the politics of war.

This, I knew, was not about what I wanted, nor was it about what he wanted either. “The samurai look up to General Kurosawa as inspiration. He has followed his father’s footsteps. His father was loved by his men because he was one of them. He ate with them, slept in the camps with them, trained in the dojo with them, drank with them, celebrated with them, and he fought in the midst of battle just as much as they did. It is true that having General Kurosawa there would boost morale amongst the men, however, I cannot ignore that in losing him, not only would we be left without a High General, but without a friend, and comrade as well. The only person who can make this decision, and make it

objectively, is General Kurosawa himself.”

With my words, I grew silent, letting them sink in with everyone. I had to trust that Ryosuke would make his decision based off of what he thought was best, instead of what he wanted.

He bowed. “Thank you very much for your trust, Empress Sakamoto. I will think on it and inform you of my decision.”

I nodded in response. The rest of the meeting consisted of which generals would be going to retake the stronghold. It was the largest out of all four strongholds, and would take the combined efforts of our entire army to retake it successfully.

Because the Iwashita had over three hundred samurai inside it and that it was so well fortified—one of the largest and well defended strongholds—we would need almost four times as many men to ensure that we could retake it successfully.

After the meeting was over and everyone had left the room, Asano stayed and asked to speak to Ryosuke and I privately. I granted him permission and then waited for him to speak.

“There is something disturbing I must tell you both, in confidence.” Asano’s voice, as well as his expression, was low and full of warning.

Internally, I sighed. There was always something. “What is it?” I attempted to

keep the tiredness out of my voice.

“If Shinji failed to cut off the retreating Iwashita samurai, it is because only a single squadron was sent with him when he left, consisting of twenty-five samurai, rather than a fourth of the regiment, like you originally commanded. General Matsushima denied the order for more men.”

“He denied it?” I fought to keep my voice level.

“Yes, Empress. I myself watched as he reported in to Matsushima, informing him of your orders. Matsushima ordered him to go after the army, only taking Commander Nakai and his squad, ignoring your direct command.”

Ryosuke cursed, a cold and violent expression on his face. “Is Matsushima helping the Iwashita?”

“Though it does seem as if he was trying to help their army escape, I do not think his betrayal is that deliberate.” Asano’s eyebrows furrowed as he spoke.

“What do you mean?” Ryosuke asked him.

“He was loyal to your father, as were most of the older men in the council— some can him from the day when he first became Emperor. However, they were also, and still remain, loyal to the clan even today. I do not think it is within him, or the others, to directly betray the clan in which they have believed in thus far. Yet, it is not hidden that Matsushima questions your rule, and has

ever since you became Empress.”

Asano’s words were true, deep in my heart, I knew it. I nodded in agreement before speaking. “These past two years, many of the generals, especially Matsushima, have been waiting for me to make a mistake.” I paused, glancing at Ryosuke.

He nodded, gesturing me to go ahead.

I looked back at Asano, meeting his eyes. “I have caught them having meetings several times, discussing my leadership capabilities. Matsushima, on more than one occasion, has even met with others throughout the clan who agree with him.”

Asano frowned. “Do you think he plans to overthrow you? Or start a rebellion?”

I shrugged. “I do not know, but I do not have enough to arrest him for treason. That is the problem I am having.”

“And now,” Ryosuke started, “not only is he challenging and questioning your rule, but he is defying your orders in open battle, which very well could cost us this war. This is too far.”

“I am afraid the incidence with Shinji has not been the only one. Your own Chief Advisor experienced the same. You gave her orders to take men and go behind the Iwashita army in order to help cut off their escape. Matsushima forbade her

from going. That is why many of them got away, and the reason why you had to send Shinji to do it later.”

“I wondered what had gone wrong and how the Iwashita had escaped so easily.” I frowned. I had to force the next words out of my mouth, hating them even as I spoke them, but I knew I had no choice. “Now more than ever, it is important that you are out on the battlefield, General Kurosawa, directly ordering the men and ensuring that your orders are carried out.”

He nodded, bowing. “Then I make my decision here and now, Empress Sakamoto, to accompany the men and them on the siege to take the last stronghold within the .”

I met his eyes, and they were full of reassurance and confidence, meant to comfort me. There was an excitement there, just barely under the surface, which had not been there before. Asano asked if he could be there as well, rather than with General Nomura at the entrance to the . I agreed and he promised that he would be within the battlefield, keeping an eye and ear out for anything that took place. He reminded me that first, he would get Akari and then travel with her to meet up with General Matsushima and General Hattori on their way to the final stronghold.

Chapter Thirty-One

AKARI

It was nearly a day later before Asano from the council came to the stronghold, informing me of orders from Megumi. I was to accompany him to meet with General Matsushima and General Hattori, along with both of their regiments to retake the last stronghold within the that was not under our control.

Shinji still had not returned from chasing the scattering Iwashita army, and no word had been sent as to his whereabouts either. I had not seen him since he left that night with the squad to go into the highlands. Speaking with Asano as we rode to meet the army, I discovered that this last stronghold had been reinforced with more Iwashita samurai, nearly two hundred of those that had fled had reached it.

I swallowed hard. If two hundred had gotten away, had they defeated Shinji and the squad of samurai with him? Though they had been five hundred in number, they were scattered, out of formation and focused on fleeing, rather than fighting. I had not worried for him before.

Although, as I thought more about it, I realized that left at least three hundred Iwashita samurai that had not been mentioned. When I asked him, Asano said that nothing had been heard about Shinji, or the other Iwashita who had escaped.

Three hundred Iwashita samurai were missing deep in the highlands, along with

Shinji and the squad of twenty-five samurai. Where had they gone? What had happened?

Hours later, just before sunset, we caught up with the army as they were making camp, about a mile away from the stronghold. We met with both of the generals.

The stronghold was along a mountainside, making one side of it impossible to even get to. We would have to travel up the mountain on a small path to even be able to reach the walls at all. Once there, we would send five hundred men to siege the east wall, five hundred men to siege the west wall, and five hundred men to siege the south wall, leaving two hundred men at the camp in reserve. I would be with Asano at the men attacking the north wall, which was also the wall that held the main gates.

The sun had long ago set underneath the horizon in the distant sky as I mounted a horse and followed behind General Matsushima. High General Kurosawa was up ahead, leading the whole attack. We were forced to walk with only four men side-by-side, or two horses, as we trekked up the mountain path. Eventually, it became so steep that I had to jump off my horse and lead her, so that she wouldn’t fall. The rocks beneath us were unstable, and the higher we came, the narrower the path became. We were a fourth of a mile away from the stronghold, and the path had narrowed so that only two men could walk side-by-side, leaving room for only one horse at a time. Our pace had slowed considerably.

At one point, gravel beneath my feet fell, and I was just barely able to jump out of the way in time to avoid falling. I had yanked the reins of my horse to the side with me, so she had avoided it as well.

By the time we reached the top, I was completely exhausted. My muscles ached everywhere, my knees shook as well as my hands, and it took every ounce of

willpower I had to not collapse. There had been around thirty or so men ahead of me, and the rest of the army had followed behind. I reached into my pouch to feed a piece of fruit to my horse, climbed on top of her, and rode to my place just behind General Matsushima and General Kurosawa. Asano rode up just beside me. We were away from the walls enough so that their archers and spearmen could not reach us, but as the rest of the men came in, that would become a problem.

It took some time for the rest of the men to finish climbing the path. Everyone slowly took their positions, carefully staying out of range until time for the attack.

Apparently, there had been a small rockslide, which had killed almost twenty of General Hattori’s men. A few were injured, though they were only minor. General Kurosawa gave the order for the attack. Messengers ran back and forth, carrying the order throughout the lines, and then dispatched to General Matsushima on the west wall, and General Hattori on the east wall. Within a few minutes, the attack finally began.

Several of the men had constructed a battering ram, made out of a lighter wood found inside the rice plant stalks. The wood was light, so generations ago, it was included into our armor, yet it was strong enough that it protected us much better than what the ancient armor used to. The same wood would be better against the gates, than the wood from any of the trees, which would shatter against the strength of the gates. The battering ram was tied in-between six horses, three on each side. The men riding them had thick shields, yet light in weight as they carried them and held above their heads to protect against the archers.

When the men were within range, the archers and spearmen began to attack from the walls above. The horsemen rode toward the gates, and their sudden stop provided a rocking movement that sent the battering ram slamming into the stronghold gates. There was an ear-splitting crash, and the gates shook, but did

not break.

Most of that night consisted on our archers and spearmen hitting who they could from down below, but the way the stronghold was on the side of a mountain provided the archers with little room to aim, and even smaller targets to hit. Eventually, their men from above dropped oil down to the men controlling the battering ram. The first two men, and their horses on either side, along with the second one on the left side, were covered in it.

“Get out of there!” General Kurosawa yelled.

I glanced at him, and did not wait for permission as I rode out of line, toward the men, screaming at them to move. The horses in the back were not cooperating, just as the Iwashita samurai on the wall dropped jars. To my horror, the jars hit the ram, along with the men covered in oil, and burst into flames. The flames licked up the battering ram, only fueled further by the wood. The men in front jumped off their horses, screaming in pure agony. As the horses reared and whinnied, they galloped away from the wall. The other horses were forced to follow, and those in the back tried to escape the flames as well.

One of the men in the back panicked and jumped off his horse, running away before the flames could touch him. Another tried to untie his horse from the battering ram.

“No—“ I started, but my plea was too late; the flames jumped and danced from the ram to his arm. His horse cried and jumped back, throwing him off of it and into the ground. He tried to roll to put out the flames, but the flames spread faster than he could put them out.

I stopped my horse when I was ten or fifteen yards away; I was too late.

***

General Kurosawa sent messages back to the camp, relaying them to three men to ensure the message arrived, for the men inside the camp to begin making a second battering ram.

“As soon as we try again, they will just continue to light it ablaze,” I told him.

Ryosuke looked at me and nodded. “I know.”

“Unless we have something to cover it that is inflammable,” Asano put in.

“Like what?” I asked him, trying to think of anything that would work.

Ryosuke’s eyes lit up. “I’ve got an idea.”

While we worked on getting what we needed to fulfill his plan, he ordered our men to use ladders to try to climb up onto the walls to cut down the samurai up there. It would be no easy task, but our men attacked the walls, placing at least thirty or so ladders across the entire front of the stronghold. They climbed, using shields to protect themselves with. Our spearmen and archers stayed behind, firing and hitting what little men they could. With thirty ladders and so many of

our men, the Iwashita samurai were spread thin. They only had so much oil and fire they could use against us, and they would need to conserve it in case we tried for the gates again, so fortunately, fire was not used against the ladders.

I left with Asano on foot, leaving our horses with Kurosawa as the sun peeked out over the edge of the horizon. We walked as quickly as we dared down the mountain path, until we came to a smaller point, just big enough for us to walk through. We followed that winding path around the mountain until we trekked high enough to where the creatures nested. We called them dai tokage hachurui, because of their large, lizard-like, reptilian bodies. Though their scales were either the color of dried blood or the color of the lilac petals before the snow came, they were harsh creatures and difficult to kill.

Asano and I treaded carefully. It did not take us long to find one, and between Asano using his spear against it, and my quick movements with my katana in hand, despite that it jumped around, staying mostly on the mountain’s cliffsides, we managed to kill it. I sheathed my katana and took out my wakazashi and set to work skinning it as quickly and as delicately as possible. While I skinned it, Asano hunted two more, and then set to work skinning those as well. By that time, I had finished the first and then went after another one. We continued trading back-and-forth until we had plenty of skins.

An hour, if not a little more, had ed by the time we started back down the path and headed toward the camp. There, the samurai had all worked together to create the skeleton of a decent-looking battering ram. We helped them finish, gathering all the stalk wood and helping them tie it together with ropes made from the purple vines of the baintsuri saplings. They were sturdy and highly durable. Once the remains of the stalk wood were bound together, we set to work placing the skins over it, to keep the stalk wood from burning. We nailed what skins were left onto the shields of the six samurai who would control the battering ram. We tied two horses to the battering ram, one to lead and one at the end, and started up the path once again.

We had no third battering ram, so we took our time on the path. Asano took the lead in front, ensuring everything ahead was stable. I stayed behind, making sure everything was alright ahead of me. It took more time with us to climb back up than it had for Asano and I to travel down it, but it was quicker than when the army originally climbed it.

By the time we returned, it was close enough to sunset that the tranquil teal-gray hue had settled over the land. Several of the ladders had fallen, yet others remained standing, still furiously fighting against the men on the wall.

Most of the troops had been switched out from the men at the camp, replaced so that those who were tired could rest, and those who had become rested could fight. It was the one advantage we had over the Iwashita samurai trapped inside; they could neither rest nor sleep, nor switch-out their exhausted men.

When we reached Ryosuke, he already had six samurai who had volunteered to control the battering ram. The two soldiers who had rode on horses carrying it up the mountain path were sent to rest, along with their horses as well. The horses belonging to the six samurai were tied to the battering ram, and given the shields.

Ryosuke gave the order for the charge, and then they rode toward the gate with a renowned fury and energy. Asano requested that he go check on General Matsushima and his men; Ryosuke accepted the request and then Asano rode off.

Meanwhile, Ryosuke ordered more spearmen be sent closer to the ladders and as the battering ram hit the gates again and again, rattling and jerking them wildly, more spearmen and archers ed those on the ladders. The Iwashita samurai

atop the wall were getting tired and slowly running out of resources.

One of the ladders to the left side fell, and the men around it scattered out of its way. Another one to the right had men who had managed to get atop the wall. The first samurai swung his katana, slicing men left and right, as more of our samurai climbed up the ladder behind him. The Iwashita samurai surrounded him, and just when it looked as if they would cut him down, another one of our samurai ed him. Together they fought, but were soon pushed back.

I was not sure how much time had ed, but it was nearly day again before a messenger returned with word that Hattori’s men had made it over the wall successfully and had fought the Iwashita samurai back and claimed the wall.

The victory, though small, meant that the numbers of Iwashita samurai guarding the front would decrease. And they did. It was not long, almost an hour later, when the battering ram was finally able to break through the gate and its defenses. The minute it was open, Kurosawa gave the order to charge. Because of the six riders already inside, more men were able to reach the walls from the ladders. The Iwashita samurai were focused on trying to push the riders back out, and to barricade the gate before more of our men stormed in, and because of this, they did not concentrate on the walls.

Ryosuke placed me in charge because he was to stay away from the main part of the fighting. I nodded and rode off toward the gates. A storm of men followed me.

The minute I was through, Iwashita samurai swarmed around me. I stayed on my horse, unsheathing my katana, slicing man after man. One man in the distance threw his spear at me.

I ducked, but lost my hold on the horse and slid off. Though I landed on the ground hard, I jumped to my feet quickly to avoid another Iwashita samurai swinging his blade at me. I met another attack from him, and then continued the movement, slicing his left shoulder, and then his chest. I ran in the direction of where the spearmen had been, slicing through men along the way. After I blocked another attack from my right, I swung my katana left to slice a man’s chest. I came back around to stab the one who had attacked from the right, and continued charging.

I twisted left, avoiding a spear thrust and sliced the man’s side, but he dodged it enough so that the cut was not fatal. I danced toward his side, and sliced out at him, but he jumped back, so that I was in range of his spear but he was not in range of my sword. He thrust it at me again, and twirled it in his hand. I slipped out of his way, moving as quickly as I could without stopping. When I was finally in range, I met his spear with my katana and shoved his spear to the right as hard as I could. He kept his grip, but was not able to attack.

I had my opening.

I charged in, attacking his side, then his chest, and finally his neck. Though he managed to dodge a few attacks, at last, he missed a movement, and I was finally able to slice his right rib cage. He fell to the ground.

Sensing movement behind me, I jerked forward, ducking as low as I could. When I turned, I realized another man had a katana and had attacked toward the back of my neck. Though I dodged, he did not stop. He was fast, moving left and right, switching his foot movements so quickly I barely had time to them. All I could do was block his attacks and stay on the defensive.

Another one of our samurai came up behind him, and though he sensed it and turned and blocked it, the attack provided the opening I needed. I lunged toward his back, and though he blocked, it was only briefly and was weak. He was just barely fast enough to block another attack from the other samurai. We continued, until his energy was spent and he grew too sluggish. He did not block an attack from me that stabbed into his left side, just above his ribs.

The Sakamoto samurai met my eyes and we both exchanged a nod in gratitude. The sounds of fighting in the immediate area had dulled, and when I glanced around, I realized why; we had taken the front courtyard and were inside the stronghold at last.

I gave orders to a few men to go assist Hattori’s men along the east wall. The Iwashita samurai had retreated in that direction to help them before we came through the gate and, now, would more than likely be heading back this way. We would trap them in front, and Hattori’s men from the wall would cut them off from behind.

It was about half an hour later before enough men had come through to keep the courtyard secured. Minutes after that, more samurai returned, informing me that between them and General Hattori’s men, they had cut down all the Iwashita samurai, with only a few minor injuries to a few of our samurai. As soon as I received that news, I gave orders for the men to begin clearing out the rest of the stronghold. I followed behind as samurai on our side went from the storehouses to the armory, to the samurai barracks and prison holds, to the minor meeting rooms and dojo area, taking what few prisoners we needed, and cutting down anyone who resisted.

A few of our samurai burned their food storehouses, rather than try to capture it and take the resources. In case we were somehow overrun, they would not get their food back. Once the armory was overtaken, which was the hardest one, as about half of the Iwashita samurai had retreated there to protect what weapons

were there, I selected a squadron of ten of our samurai to haul the weapons out of the stronghold and back to Ryosuke and once all the stored weapons were gone, to burn the armory to the ground.

By that time, more of our men from the army had continued streaming inside the gates and over the ladders. There was word that Matsushima had finally broken through and had met up with the rest of Hattori’s men to go for the center keep, where the main general or commander of the Iwashita troops would be hiding.

Iwashita samurai took their stand at the central hold, keeping its defenses up for several hours. They held themselves up inside, and had all the entry points blocked and barricaded. It was night again before we managed to break through a barricade at the back. I ed them, as our samurai fought our way inside and then cut down the rest of the Iwashita samurai inside the room. We continued down the hall until we reached a stairway. I ordered half of the samurai to go up, while half went down, leaving only myself and three others to go inside the next room on this level.

There were only five samurai inside, and though I had to fight two of them at the same time, it did not take long before their bodies were both on the floor. I only had a minor cut to my left shoulder. As I turned, the other samurai with me were finishing up the other Iwashita samurai. I nodded my head and we left the room.

More than likely, whoever the Iwashita had in charge would be as high in the keep as possible. I sent one of the samurai down, while the other two followed me up the stairs.

Our samurai had the offensive, and all of the Iwashita between me and the final room were dead. At the end of the hall, our samurai were fighting a group of Iwashita samurai, who protected a door. I quickly ran to them.

With a quick sprint forward, I jumped, landing in front of an Iwashita samurai, taking him by surprise. Seconds later, I ripped my katana out of his chest and ducked just in time to avoid an attack toward my head. Whirling around, I sliced my katana from left-to-right as I moved, and though the Iwashita samurai dodged most of the attack, I still managed to cut him. He swung again, going for my right shoulder, but I slid left, standing into a crouch and sliding into his zone. I darted past him, slicing his left side as I did so. I continued the movement, slicing his back once I reached behind him.

Taking a breath, I paused to look around the room. All of the Iwashita samurai had been cut down, with only one of our own samurai having been stabbed. “Are you alright?” I asked him.

The man, though clenching his left shoulder, nodded briefly. Though he was alive, it was likely he would never wield a katana again. I swallowed deeply, before glancing away from him.

Our samurai were trying to get through the shoji, which was actually made out of wood, rather than paper. It was blocked with something on the other side. It took nearly fifteen minutes before we were able to break through it.

Once we entered inside, I understood why the other samurai had been placed around the building; to hold us off.

The man in the center of the room had knelt on a ritualistic tatami mat, where he had committed seppuku, along with other samurai who had knelt on similar tatami mats around him in a circle. Though there had not been enough samurai to stand beside them and behead them once they had cut open their own

stomachs, they all had sliced themselves open and died as samurai, retrieving their honor from their loss of this battle.

We all stood, silently gazing at their bodies. I bowed my head, praying for their souls and congratulating them on dying with honor.

Through the shattered and broken shoji, a figure I had been longing to see strode in. My heart leapt in silent relief and I fought the urge to run straight to him. I stayed still, though, and all I said was, “You are late. You missed all the fighting.”

Shinji grinned, before rolling his eyes, smirk back in place.

He was safe.

Chapter Thirty-Two

MEGUMI

It took a total of three days and nights to retake the stronghold. Toshi, my messenger, came to inform me an hour after our army had complete control over it once again. It was nearly a day after that before Akari and Shinji both returned to the capital, along with General Matsushima, General Hattori, Asano, and Ryosuke, for a meeting recounting the events that had taken place.

As they took the stronghold, they left alive only what Iwashita samurai they needed for interrogation. Ryosuke assured me that the prisoners were secured. He had his most trusted samurai with them at all times, and they had already begun the questioning.

Once all the reports were gathered, including Asano’s and Akari’s, I turned toward Shinji and asked him to recount the events of his mission, and why no one had heard from him in several days.

He immediately glared at Matsushima. “I was sent after the retreating Iwashita samurai with only one squad… twenty-five other samurai besides myself. We ended up surrounded six to one, and everyone was killed. I was barely able to make it out alive.” The whole time he spoke, he never glanced away from Matsushima.

I fought back a gasp, and I felt Akari at my right, stiffen. “Why did you not

gather more men when you left?” I directed the question toward Shinji.

He briefly glanced at me, before returning his cold gaze back to Matsushima. “I was ordered to bring only that particular squad.”

I looked at Matsushima. “You told me you did not how many men you sent with him. Is this true?”

Matsushima smiled. “It is true, Empress. Too many things happen on a battlefield, and I have the lives of the rest of my regiment to consider. I have already spoken to you of this, and I spoke the truth then, as I speak it now.”

Shinji clenched his fists, standing up from his place on the tatami mat. “Why did you send me and only one squad against five hundred men?”

“Shinji!” Koike yelled.

“Sit down, immediately!” one of the other generals commanded; I was not sure who, though I guessed Hattori.

“You must never stand in the presence of our Empress, especially not without permission!” Koike’s tone was appalled.

Akari’s fists were clenched where they lay in her lap.

“Shinji, please return to your seat if you wish to be included in the rest of the council meeting.” I kept my tone neutral and my expression imive as I looked at him, though internally, I pleaded with him not to force my hand.

His cold eyes shifted to me. “No, I think I’m done here,” he snapped right before he turned his back on me and walked toward the shoji.

“Never turn your back on our Empress!”

“She’s not my Empress,” he muttered right before opening the shoji and storming out of the room.

Akari’s unease radiated off of her in waves. I knew it was only a sheer force of will that kept her kneeling on her tatami mat and not running after Shinji.

“His behavior cannot go unpunished!” Koike shouted.

“I concur!” Matsushima agreed.

“Enough!” My voice dripped with power and authority. “Shinji is a ronin for hire and therefore, is free to leave as he wishes. We have more important matters to discuss. It was a foolish decision to send one squadron after a fleeting army of five hundred, even if those men were scattered. Still, you sent him on an impossible task, even for the most skilled samurai. However, there is no harm for

foolish decisions on the battlefield unless the cost of those decisions is lives. Here then, is my decision; for your foolish error, which cost twenty-five men their lives, you will compensate their families with money. You will ensure their protection, as well as provide them with fine homes and property. None of this can make up for the lives that were lost, but it will suffice for now.”

I could feel the cold glares of Matsushima and the other generals on me, though I did not look at any of them. “Now, as to our next issue, once again, Matsushima, you are at its core. I have been informed that you defied my orders in open battle. Whether it is due to an error in messages, a mere rumor, or outright rebellion against my authority, is what I will soon discover. Okada, I was told you received my orders from my personal messenger, and then were denied being able to accomplish those orders because of a command given to you by General Matsushima. Will you attest to this?”

Akari hesitated only for a split second. “Yes, Empress Sakamoto, I can witness to this.”

“Then stand before the council and recite the events of what happened.”

Akari nodded, bowed low to the ground, and stood up to go to the center of the circle of tatami mats, facing me directly. She bowed again, and began to speak. “A messenger had just arrived, informing us that General Nomura’s forces had fallen under attack from reinforcements. Shinji and a few others were sent to help. I directly asked if I was to accompany them, but the messenger told me no, that I was to stay with General Matsushima to cut off the Iwashita army from escaping into the hills, with as many men as I needed. When I told General Matsushima of this, he said that there was no need for me to take away men that he needed there and then he directly ordered me not to go.”

I frowned, briefly glancing at Ryosuke, who looked as angry and unhappy as I felt. “Okada, you may take your seat.” She bowed and returned to her seat. As soon as she was sitting once again on the tatami mat to the right of mine with her legs tucked underneath her, I glared at Matsushima. “General Matsushima, what is your response to this?”

He laughed. “We had the cowards in retreat! I ordered my men to continue after them as long as the hills would allow! There was no need to go around behind them, risking the lives of my men on a foolish errand. Half of the Iwashita cowards either died in the hills or committed seppuku, because they did not make it to the stronghold, which is now in our possession. My actions in no way changed the outcome on the battlefield. Besides, I had not received the messenger, or the orders myself, nor was I told it was a direct order from you, Empress Sakamoto. I made a calculated move, based upon years of training as a samurai, and years of leading armies into battles, not a rash decision made by a young adolescent woman who does not yet know anything of fighting, or of war.”

I swallowed deeply, and the whole council grew into a festering silence. I could feel my cheeks burning, and there was no doubt they were turning red, whether from anger, embarrassment or both, I did not know. Judging by the expressions on the other generals faces, as well as Koike’s, they all agreed with Matsushima. I was at a complete loss for words.

“General Matsushima, you are out of place! How dare you insult your Empress like that!” It was Ryosuke who spoke up.

“High General Kurosawa is right, it is treason to speak such words,” Asano agreed.

“Is it treason, if it is truth?” Matsushima murmured quietly.

“Your decision might not have directly changed the outcome of the battle, but it did lead to Shinji being forced to retreat after the Iwashita samurai had made it into the hills, making his mission that much harder to accomplish, not including the decision you made to only send him with one squadron. Your decision resulted in samurai foolishly being killed. Empress Sakamoto’s command, however, would not have led to that same outcome.” Akari’s voice was taut and full of anger.

“You have no more right to speak on this matter than Empress Sakamoto does! You are but a girl, maybe a few years older, and with a little training of your own, but you are still not a leader, nor are you a general, or have ever been faced with the situation. You speak of what you do not know, child. And I do believe that there is also something you have not told the rest of the council in your ?” When no one else spoke, Matsushima continued. “After I ordered you not to go, you defied a direct order and went after the Iwashita, cutting them off from behind, as many as you could, according to my sources. Is that right, Okada?”

Akari was shaking beside me, though I guessed it was more out of anger, than out of fear at his revelation.

“Enough!” All men quieted and looked at me. I stood up, glancing at Akari. “Your katana, please, just for a moment, Okada.”

Akari met my eyes, but bowed low to the ground, handing me her katana with its sheath facing me. I unsheathed it with my arm and swung it toward Matsushima’s throat with such speed, that Koike looked confused. The other generals’ expression showed shock and surprise. I stopped just a breadth away

from his throat. “For your disobedience of my direct orders, General Matsushima, you will be executed for treason. Because of the shame in which you led your men, I will not allow you the honor of committing seppuku; instead you will be beheaded when the sun rises tomorrow. This is my official decision, and I will see to it that this sentence be carried out.”

A light gasp ran through the council, though it was louder among the generals.

“You will be stripped of your title and as such your son will not be able to take your place as my general, and your family name will lose its honor. However, you and you alone will be executed, and because of your loyalty to my family, I will allow your family to keep their possessions and no harm will come to them because of this.”

Matsushima bowed, low to the ground. He did not plead for his life, or even to request that I allow him to commit seppuku.

“General Kurosawa.” I returned Akari’s katana to her. She slipped it inside its sheath and placed the sheath back on her left hip.

“Will you please inform the executioner to prepare for tomorrow?”

“Yes, Empress.” Ryosuke bowed low to the ground. I ended the meeting and left the room, without waiting for anyone else to move or say another word. It did not take me very long to weave in and around the various corridors and hallways until I stood before the shoji that led into my parents’ chambers.

As I went inside, sliding the shoji closed behind me, I took in all the familiar sights and smells, bringing back so many fond memories. After their deaths, I did not have the heart to have the rooms changed, so I ordered that they remain as they always had been. The room itself was spacious. A tatami mat sat in front of my father’s desk, upon which papers still rested, the last letters he wrote before he was poisoned. The letters, written in hiragana with beautiful kanji and other symbols, was the last thing my father had worked on.

I walked farther into the room, moving my eyes over various portraits and paintings of our ancestors. The colors around the room, in various shades of maroon and violet, yellow and gold, green and blue, spoke of wealth and nobility, courage and beauty, youth and freshness. The room itself smelled exactly the same as it did when they were alive—it smelled of them; the sweet fragrance of the kinmokusei flower, the herbal aroma of toshiri tea, and the pleasant sweetness of the yuzu fruit.

It was as if my parents were still in the room, as if they had been there this entire time, as if it had not been two years since their deaths.

The sound of the shoji sliding open startled me and I turned, but relaxed to see Ryosuke enter the room and softly close the shoji behind him.

I did something then, something that I knew in my mind I should not have. Something, that, despite my mind screaming at me to stop, caused me to ignore my better judgement as I moved toward him faster than I thought possible and collapsed in his arms. It had been too long since I had felt those arms. I could not if they had even held me at all.

“Megumi,” he murmured, his voice low and husky. Whether his tone was surprised, or relieved, I could not tell, and I did not wish to take the time to find

out. I leaned toward him, desperately pressing my lips to his, losing all rational thought, all my composure. My walls instantly shattered, breaking into a thousand tiny pieces, lost and forgotten on the floor beneath me. I grabbed his right arm tightly with a desperation I had never felt or experienced before. His hands at my waist never wavered, they were strong, and sure, holding me as if those hands were all that held me together, keeping me from falling apart.

Nearly a minute later, I jerked away from him, backing up as if I had been struck. Within seconds, my composure, my imive expression, my rational thought was back. I had given myself just that one minute, and no more than that. I bowed to him, keeping my eyes trained on the floor. “Apologies, Ryosuke. I lost control…”

I felt his hands under my chin, gently lifting up my face to meet his steady gaze. He quickly took his hands off my face, staying a respectful distance away from me. “Never lower yourself to me, Megumi. And do not ever apologize for losing control like that. Time and circumstances have kept our fingertips from brushing, and kept you out of my arms, for too long.”

I nodded, keeping my gaze on his. “It has.” I slowly, carefully, reached my hand out extending it to his. With the same slow, preserving graceful movement I had, Ryosuke reached his hand out to mine, and we stood there, with only our hands intertwined.

For one brief minute….

***

He left the room quickly and quietly. I stayed behind to ease off suspicion and remained there, in my parents’ room, amongst the memories running through my thoughts. It was not until a voice called from the other side of the shoji, that I was ed when and where I was.

“Empress Sakamoto, Okada Akari wishes to speak with you.” The voice belonged to Chiaki, the young servant girl. I opened up the shoji, nodding to her.

“Take me to her.”

Chiaki bowed, and then stood to lead me to where Akari waited. As we walked, I asked Chiaki how she had discovered where I was.

“General Kurosawa heard we had been searching for you and he said that you had left for peace and guidance, suggesting that the last place you found peace before was with your parents. I knew you had left this room the same, so I checked here.”

“Very wise of you,” I said.

She bowed to the ground, opening up a shoji. “She is in here, Empress Sakamoto.”

I nodded and walked into the room. Inside, Akari faced a poem hanging on the wall, reading it. Once Chiaki slid the shoji closed, I cleared my throat.

Akari turned to face me. She bowed at first, but I shook it off. “We are friends, Akari. In private, you need not show any formality.”

“Thank you very much, Megumi.”

In the two years since the war had started, Akari and I had grown close. I was rather fond of her, as she was one of the only women I could talk to openly and freely. We knew almost everything about each other, and hid no secrets from the other.

“I apologize for Shinji’s outburst in the meeting. He has not told me specific details about what happened, but I can tell it bothers him. But thank you for your against Matsushima.” She smiled at me, though it did not reach her eyes.

I nodded. “Matsushima cannot go unpunished. His disobedience may not have had a direct outcome in the loss or victory of the entire battle, but his decision cost samurai their lives unnecessarily. Who is to say that the next time he disobeys me that it would not mean the loss of a battle, or the entire war? I did as I needed to, nothing more.”

She nodded.

I smiled. “I imagine you are relieved to hear that Shinji survived. It is a miracle; he was blessed to come back to you, living and breathing.”

She blinked rapidly, as if pushing back invisible tears, but nodded, smiling. “Yes. I thank God for it often.”

I was surprised when she first itted the truth behind her beliefs in God and her family’s as well. Ryosuke was raised with the same beliefs, and he had long ago shown me the truth behind them. I ired her for the way in which she stayed true to both God and her beliefs as a samurai. It was rare, and an attribute to be well ired.

I sighed. “You may want to prepare yourself. The time ahead will not be easy. Matsushima was the architect of the generals’ plans to see me fail. They will not take his death lightly and seeing as you are the witness against him… they could take their anger out on you, or even Shinji.”

She nodded. “I already suspected as much. But do not worry; I can handle myself, even against the generals.” After a pause, she continued. “You seem antsy. Is it from all the stress of the council meeting?”

“I do not know. Ever since the Battle of Chatan … When the Yamada samurai attacked our stronghold and tried to overtake it, when I was forced to defend myself against one…” I paused, sighing and shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “When I became Empress, I forced myself to give up on the idea of training to become a samurai. I would never again wield a katana or train to better my technique. However, having the rush of battle in my veins has made it difficult to put that from my mind again.”

Akari pursed her lips, seeming deep in thought. “Training you would be forbidden, and dangerous, especially at a time like this when the generals are waiting for one wrong move on your part…. But, if you would wish it, I could continue training you.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

AKARI

The second the meeting was over. I ran as fast as I could to try to catch Shinji. I was terrified that he would leave the clan borders, and really who could blame him? I did not know what events he had suffered through because of Matsushima’s foolish selfishness, but the thought of Shinji being forced to leave… It was unbearable.

I found him where I suspected he would be: in a private, secluded woods surrounded by trees of brilliant sizes and colors, where he was most comfortable; isolated and away from the palace, or at least as far away as he could be while still being inside the capital walls.

His back was turned to me, but his muscles were taut. From the angle of his right arm, I guessed it was resting against his katana. Seeing him like that sent flashbacks through my mind, and I could not help but think of that day, nearly a year ago, when we had finally gotten married in secret.

“I’m never going to let you go, woman,” he had murmured in my ear. All he wanted was me, he had said, so he had agreed to let me go to a priest I knew followed my beliefs in God, a priest my family had went to and saw for years in secret. He had graciously and joyfully agreed, and there, amongst the last rays of the sun, we had become husband and wife. I had worn the traditional white kimono of the bride, and had my face painted white with powder. Though we did not have any of our parents to participate in the ceremony, I walked by myself to

the grove of trees where the priest and Shinji awaited. We both stood as the priest recited the traditional wedding vows, promising to love each other, no matter our health, to respect and console and help each other, until death. Protecting fidelity…

We both swore.

With the priest, and God as our witness, as the last rays of the sun shined upon us both, I gazed into Shinji’s eyes, for once devoid of caution and alertness, and instead were filled with joy and awe. I said, “I do,” and promised to be his forever.

Now, standing in that same grove of trees, this time with the cherry blossoms falling around him, though the sun shone high in the sky, Shinji turned, as if sensing me, and I met the eyes of my husband.

Marrying in the middle of war, and in secret, kept us from acting as a traditional couple. We had no home of our own, except the palace, or in barracks with the other samurai, or in tents at camps on the battlefield, and there were times we were separated by our missions, or his trips to spy on the Iwashita army, but somehow we had made it work. Even when, at first, he had been hesitant to believe that God was real, let alone that I could believe in such a foreign idea, he had always respected my beliefs, and even had respected me as a samurai. He never doubted me or my ability. On more than one occasion I had become impulsive, acting only on instinct and to protect others, and though he sometimes thought I was foolish, he never stopped me. He protected me, fought by my side, trusted me, and believed in my skills as a samurai. Eventually, he had come to feel God’s presence as I did, though he held onto his firm belief in bushido. I underestimated him, and originally thought he would have a difficult time balancing the two beliefs, but he did not. Though he lived by the sword, killing if necessary, he believed in honor, and despite that he also believed in loyalty, his clan had not fought with honor, and so he had severed all loyalty to them.

We both knew something bigger was happening with his father, but still had not figured out what it was that we saw. Whatever he had experienced when he had been captured, he kept to himself, and I never questioned it. I never wanted to feel the evil that had surrounded his father and the stranger again. We had not encountered either of them since we had been captured, and we had both realized long ago that the stranger had left for good. He had not come back, and had not returned the guns and cannons. Because of that, this war was fought as it should be, though the Iwashita army still fought without honor; killing innocents whenever they could, setting homes and towns ablaze, destroying as many resources as they could, and even paying people to become spies and traitors in our midst.

“Let me guess; your Empress wants me banished, or executed?” Shinji’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. Though his tone was light and teasing and his smirk was in place, his eyes were serious.

I shook my head. “She has ordered that General Matsushima be executed for his actions, defying her direct orders in the middle of battle. And the families of the samurai who accompanied you will be taken care of.”

Shinji’s lips became a firm line, but he nodded.

“It is a miracle you came back alive.” Thinking back to how I felt, knowing he was away and not knowing what had happened to him, sent an ache in my stomach. At the time, I did not have time to think on my worries or fears, but had to focus on the battle instead. No longer able to control my actions, I flung myself at him, slamming into his arms as hard as I could. I wanted nothing more than to just feel his arms around me, so soft and gentle despite that those arms could wield a katana and cut down his enemies.

We stayed like that, holding one another in the grove of trees for a few minutes. I pulled away from him, resting my hand on my katana, and glared at him. “If you choose to leave the Sakamoto clan borders, you will have to get through me first.” As I spoke, I clenched my hand around the sheath tighter.

Shinji laughed. The more he laughed, the more I glared at him. “As if you could stop me, woman!”

I used my left thumb to flick my katana just barely out of its sheath.

Shinji put his hands up in surrender. “Don’t get agitated! I’m not planning to leave, all right? You’re my wife; if I left, I would have to kidnap and take you with me.” He smirked and stepped toward me, trying to wrap his arms around me.

Though I did not move away, I frowned at him. “That is exactly what you did when we first met.”

Shinji grumbled softly. “You’re never going to move past that, are you?”

I chuckled lightly and leaned in closer to him, letting his arms envelop me. “Probably not. In any case, I am thankful for it.” I stayed in his arms a few seconds longer before I pulled away again. “I must go meet with Megumi. I have not actually spoken to her about your outburst yet. I am hoping if I apologize on your behalf, she will let it slide. She is also stressed out, though she does not show it, I know she is. Perhaps talking with me will help her.”

Shinji nodded. “All right, well, while you’re with the Empress, I’m going to follow and listen in on some of the other generals. With Matsushima’s execution, they won’t be happy.”

I pursed my lips. “About that… Because I was the reason Megumi chose to execute him, I am also her only witness.”

Shinji’s eyes narrowed and his smirk faded. “Just be careful. Matsushima’s followers could take this out on you.”

I nodded. “I will.”

After speaking with Megumi, I offered to help train her in secret. With her being Empress, it was forbidden for her, and the penalty for her and whoever trained her would be death. Looking at her, though, made me feel a bit angry toward her situation. More than anything, she wanted to learn the art of the sword and finish the training she started years ago, but because she had been thrown into a political situation she neither wanted nor longed for, she could not.

She deserved a chance to prove she could be a warrior. I was determined to help her be able to do that, even if she was forced to keep that a secret.

I knew neither of us would mind any training wounds or accidental bruises from using real katanas, but we needed to conceal any evidence that she trained. I went to the dojo grounds and grabbed two bokutos, and concealed them underneath my kimono. It was difficult, but I managed to hide them well

enough. I went into another room, bowing to the samurai there who was training new recruits and moved as normal. Once I was in the back, I slid open a shoji, and shut it quietly behind me. I quickly grabbed a kimono better fit for training, rather than the intricate ones Megumi usually wore, and also grabbed a pair of hakama and slid them inside my kimono. I quickly grabbed a kataginu, one without the exaggerated shoulders, to go over my kimono. I hoped it concealed the fact that I had clothes tucked inside the front of it.

I took my time leaving the dojo grounds, acting as normal before I made my way to the grove of trees where we had agreed to meet. I had no idea how she was going to get out of the palace unnoticed, but then again, she was the Empress and she had lived here her entire life.

By the time I arrived, she was waiting for me. I smiled, unable to hide my look of surprise, before I took off the kataginu and placed it upon a branch so that it would not become dirty on the ground. I took out the kimono and hakama, and after we quickly checked around for anyone nearby, we went deeper into the trees bordering the grove, and once we believed we were concealed, I helped her change from the layers of the kimono she wore, into the one I had brought for her. Once the training kimono was on, she was able to get into the hakama on her own. I took the pieces of her kimono and placed it upon branches, thankful that there was no wind.

I handed her one of the bokutos and grabbed the other one myself. We faced each other and bowed, holding the bokutos as if they were sheathed. She unsheathed hers, going into a stance slightly favoring her right foot, with her right arm holding the bokuto slightly behind her.

I unsheathed my own, and drew into a stance of my own, my right foot slightly forward, only my hands held the bokuto straight out in front of me, coming from my stomach. She moved toward me, coming toward my left side, as I predicted, and I met her attack with ease. I slid past her, going for a strike to her left side,

but she quickly dodged it and moved around me faster than I had anticipated.

In that movement, that she revealed her entire technique to me. Whereas mine focused on flowing, continual movements, hers centered around speed and smaller, accurate strikes. I continued moving forward, turning as I did so to avoid the attack I had expected she would try from behind me. The minute I had turned all the way around, she lunged toward me again, never stopping or slowing down. I blocked her attack and pressed forward, striking toward her from the right. I never stopped moving my feet as I danced around to attack her right side this time. She barely dodged out of the way and I slid around behind her. By the time I was facing her back, she had already turned around to face me. I made my face unreadable to keep her from anticipating my next move.

Without hesitation, I used the one move within my technique that consisted of speed, and headed straight for her. As I lunged toward her right side, she twisted sideways to protect herself.

I went up high, striking toward her right shoulder. Just in time, she shifted her wrist so that she was able to block my attack, but I continued, striking her right shoulder from behind, then came around to strike her back as I turned to face her. She was able to block the first with her arm, but lost her momentum and was not able to stop my second strike. She dodged, so instead of hitting her back, it hit her right side.

Megumi grunted, but smiled as we both stood and faced each other. We bowed again, and made a movement to sheath both of our bokutos. “You are a skilled warrior, Akari.”

I inclined my head. “Thank you very much, Megumi. You are skilled as well. Though you favor your right side when you start, enabling me to easily predict

where you attack from.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, thinking, but nodded. “It is a habit Ry—uh, General Kurosawa tried to break me of many times.”

I hid my surprise. She never stumbled around words, and she had started to call General Kurosawa by his name, rather than his family name. I had suspected that they cared for one another, though they hid it well, almost too well. “He trained with you?”

She hesitated only a second. “I trust you, and it is because I trust you that I will tell you that yes, he was the one who helped me develop my technique better. Unfortunately, he was unable to continue training me.”

I nodded, pursing my lips. “I am sorry that he was unable to help you finish training. But I am here, and will help you as much as I can.”

She inclined her head. “Thank you very much. I am extremely grateful to you for this, Akari.”

“It is my pleasure, Megumi. Now, what did you notice about me and the technique I use?” Learning how to fight was not just about skill alone. It required knowledge, and though it mostly consisted of reading your opponent well during the fight, in order to know how to read them, you had to have knowledge about the techniques used. I wanted to see how much she knew.

“You seem to use a technique that focuses on continual movements. Your feet are constantly moving and shifting, adapting to the fight as it happens. You never stop with just one strike or hit; rather, you use multiple ones, but with each one you are in a different place and stance. However, my technique focuses on speed and quicker strikes. Similar to your own, I also use multiple strikes, but where you switch your stances and your strikes are always with a different movement and shift of your body, mine are quick and in different places, but my feet rarely shift with them.”

I nodded, smiling at her. She was very well-educated in the art of technique and watching to read an opponent. “Very perceptive. First off, we need to help you overcome your favoritism to your right side. Anyone who would fight you would expect you to be better when facing with a right-stance, as well as expect you to favor your right side and try to protect your left. We need to fix that. Another thing you must work on, is the moment you release all your speed, you release it all at once and continue doing so. Eventually, in a drawn-out fight, it will exhaust you. You must learn to conserve your energy better.”

She frowned. “That is another thing that Gen—well, Ryosuke, had pointed out to me. Although, he never got around to informing me on how to solve that.”

“You can use it in smaller bursts… Using some here, just enough to get behind your opponent and attack their back, but then blocking and striking as normal again until you feel you either have the upper hand or are on the defensive. When the right moment comes again, use another burst of speed to dance around your opponent and come from another angle and so on.” As I spoke to her, I demonstrated to her what I was saying.

“Ah,” she said, nodding. “What about favoring my right side?”

“Both things you must learn will be difficult, but learning to face with your left side will be the more difficult of the two. I will teach you to not feel that your left side is vulnerable simply because you do not have a left arm.”

After I spoke, her expression changed to something I had not seen before. Normally her emotions were difficult to read, as she was good at keeping an imive face. It was only because I was her closest friend that I was able to see through it as much as I did. This time, it became a mixture of shock, surprise, and gratitude.

I did not ask her about it or pry. Instead, I placed my left arm behind my back, taking it off my bokuto. I had never sparred with only my right hand before because it would make all of my strikes weaker, which was the problem most people saw with Megumi becoming skilled with a katana. Her technique with quickness and multiple strikes made up for her lack of power and outright strength. Though they were less powerful strikes, there were so many and she was so quick, that once her technique was fully mastered, she would have an opponent killed before they even had a chance to get one solid attack in.

She raised her eyebrows at me. “What are you doing?”

“I am going to show you just exactly what I mean. What kind of a teacher would I be if I told you to do something that I could not, or would not be willing to do myself?” I grinned at her, shifting into a left-stance. It was uncomfortable and unfamiliar to me, but it would be for Megumi as well once she started using it.

I held my bokuto in my right hand alone, with a reverse grip, facing the ground behind me. Then, I lunged toward her at my full speed, shifting my right hand forward as I did so. I slid it to hit her in the side with the part that would have been the hilt if the bokuto had been a katana. I had shifted at the last second,

leaving her unable to block in time. Before she could do anything else, I flicked my wrist forward, moving the bokuto to strike her. She went to block, predicting that I would go to slice across her chest, but I moved backwards, moving my left side toward her as I did so, and slid my left ankle around hers, and knocked her feet out from under her. I held the bokuto up to her neck.

“There are little to no samurai in this land that use martial arts along with their technique. Any who do, use it as a spur of the moment or as a last resort during a fight or die situation. You using a bit of it here or there, combining it with your technique will throw off your opponents. They will think your technique focuses on the mixture between katana and martial arts, when in fact, it does not. They will not be able to predict your moves as easily or quickly. You may not have a left arm, but you can learn to use your left foot during a fight. I may not know much about martial arts, but I know enough to give you the element of surprise in any fight.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

MEGUMI

Akari and I trained hard for as long as we could without getting caught.

When I had first gone to meet her, I told Chiaki to inform everyone I was not to be disturbed, by anyone or for anything. After talking with Chiaki, I spoke with Ryosuke and told him to change out the samurai guarding the palace gates in exactly five minutes. I hid in the nearby bushes, waiting for the right moment. I had about a thirty second period to slip past the gates before the new samurai noticed anything.

I was thankful for the time I had spent hiding and sneaking around the palace to try to escape my responsibilities from Mother and Father. Because of that, I knew the palace and its hiding places well. Ryosuke also had orders to change out the shifts directly before it became dark.

It was in the middle of sunset when I began heading back toward the palace. I worried I would not get there in time. We had stopped before sunset, but by the time Akari helped me change from the loose kimono and hakama and back into my formal kimono, sunset was nearly over. Fortunately, I managed to sneak back inside the gates and into the palace without anyone ever noticing I was gone in the first place. Akari had decided to venture into the city, after I left,

to acquire a leather bag. She placed the bokutos, along with the kimono, hakama,

and kataginu inside it to keep them from being ruined. Then, she buried the bag beside one of the trees so that no one would find them. She would likely never be returning the kataginu, bukutos, kimono or hakama to the dojo, and apologized for technically stealing from the palace.

When I returned, I let Chiaki know that I was available and wished to bathe, but she informed me that Koike wished to speak with me. Deciding I needed a bath more, I told her to send him to me after I finished bathing. She assisted me in the wash house, and afterward, I felt much better. I hoped that bathing would conceal the fact that I had just come from training. When I sat on a tatami mat and was ready to receive Koike, I told Chiaki to send him in. It was several minutes before she returned to open the shoji to allow him inside. While he sat on a tatami mat across from me, Chiaki shut the shoji.

“You wished to speak with me?” I demanded.

Koike nodded. “Yes, Empress. You see, though we may have recruited many desperately needed men in our own army, we are still trying to negotiate with other clans for troops.”

My eyebrows slightly shifted. “Yes, we are. What of it?”

“Perhaps, a suggestion that would ensure we receive assistance from one of the clans a great deal sooner than if we waited for negotiations to finish?” Koike spoke with a smooth tone, and he had a sly smile that made me question everything he was about to say.

“And what is your suggestion?” I had to fight to keep the wariness from my

tone.

“To offer up your own hand in marriage to one of the other clan Emperors.”

I felt a lump in my throat and my stomach lurched. “Marriage? My hand…?”

Koike nodded. “Yes. You are a suitable age, still young, and very beautiful, with many childbearing years ahead of you. Despite your… disability, your beauty makes up for it, and therefore, many men will want you as a wife.”

“A marriage proposal between clan leaders would only make the negotiations extend longer as we would have to come up with further details of consolidating entire clans…! How would this help us get immediate assistance? Besides, we have just reclaimed the Chatan , and it is one of the most important trade routes within our borders. We have pushed the Iwashita army back and now have the upper hand in this war. Why would we need assistance now, of all times? We made it through the first few months of the war; we can make it through from now on as well.”

“Indeed, negotiations might take longer to complete with a specific, more important marriage proposal, however, I have no doubt that the Osaki clan would be willing to send in some troops to assist while we are completing the negotiations.”

My thoughts wandered, and I did not answer him.

“Is it not true that negotiations with the Osaki clan is, in fact, about marriage proposals in exchange for troops?” Koike asked, as if he already knew the answer.

I did not bother asking him how he came to know this information. “Yes, it is true.”

“Perfect. My advice would be to send your negotiator to the Osaki clan immediately, Empress. The sooner their Emperor hears of this plan, the sooner he can accept it, and the sooner we can get troops here.” Koike’s tone was nearly demanding; leaving no room for argument with anyone.

Except me, his Empress.

“I understand what you are suggesting, Koike. However, I do not see how this is needed at this current time.” I kept my face imive, though I wanted to frown.

“Why not, Empress? Though we may have the upper hand now, who’s to say we will not lose it? War can change as quickly as the weather, Empress Sakamoto, and you will never win one without keeping that fact in mind.” Koike smiled.

I looked at the floor, hesitating.

“With the Yamada clan ing the Iwashita, it is time to choose sides. This war is not only between two clans anymore, Empress. It will spread as the others feel the Iwashita growing stronger. If they become too threatened, they will with

the Iwashita out of fear. We cannot have that. To ensure that does not happen, we need to begin ensuring our alliances now.” His tone was firm. His age showed on his face, yet in that moment, his eyes revealed the wisdom from his experience.

He was right. I had no choice. “Very well, then. I will speak with my negotiator immediately.”

Koike nodded. “Wise decision, Empress Sakamoto.”

***

Nearly an hour later, I watched as my head negotiator, Ikeda, who had taken over after Tezuka had been arrested, left with an convoy of samurai to ensure his protection as he traveled to Osaki.

“Empress Sakamoto.”

I turned to see Ryosuke standing behind me. He bowed in respect as I faced him. I told him he could stand, and could not find anything else to say to him as the stars blanketed the horizon behind him.

“I was informed of the samurai leaving with Ikeda.”

I nodded. “Yes. He is leaving for the Osaki clan.”

“Osaki? For further negotiations?”

Once again, I nodded.

“He appears to be overly protected for such a mission.” Ryosuke knew he could not ask me a direct question, not since we were out in the open. His statement was very clear what he was asking me: why was Ikeda being sent to negotiate with the Osaki clan all of the sudden?

“Since it is dark, I require a samurai escort as protection back to my chamber. Please follow and serve as my protector, General Kurosawa.”

He furrowed his brow, so slight anyone else would have missed it, but he bowed nonetheless. “Yes, Empress Sakamoto.”

I turned and walked back toward the palace as he followed me at a respectable distance. It did not take us long until we reached a smaller meeting room, farther away from the ones typically used. Ryosuke slid the shoji shut behind him and then stood to face me. “Megumi, what is going on? You may be imive to anyone else, but I know you better than you think. Something is wrong; now, tell me what is it?” Never had he spoken to me in such a manner, not even in private. He was harshly demanding, almost desperately so.

I continued staying silent. If I spoke now, I would lose all composure and that I could not do.

“Megumi…!” he demanded in a hoarse whisper.

I swallowed back the lump in my throat, but it stayed there. “I was advised to send someone to begin negotiations with the Osaki clan about a proposal, one that would ensure their immediate assistance.”

He frowned, creasing his eyebrows. “As long as negotiations take for anything, it is doubtful that we would get their immediate assistance… What was the proposal?”

“Marriage.”

That one word…it was so simple, but the second it left my lips, it was as if it had just condemned my whole world. One word could change everything. Disabled. Empress.

Marriage.

Mine.

Chapter Thirty-Five

AKARI

As soon as I arrived back inside the palace walls from training with Megumi, I felt myself being followed. They had not been there before, and whoever they were, they were good at sticking to the shadows, but their efforts at hiding did nothing to conceal themselves from me.

I used my left thumb to flick my katana just out of its sheath. “Whoever you are, come out and face me now.” I stopped where I had been walking, and turned so that I faced the general direction where I guessed they were. My eyes carefully searched the nearby buildings, the few cluster of trees to my right, the bushes on the left, the gates up ahead and on the right that led into the gardens. I slowly started inching my right hand toward my katana.

There was a zipping sound and I had just enough time to duck and roll on the ground to my right, to avoid being hit by something. There was another sound, but all I had time to do was continue rolling to my right out of the way. I groaned as I felt pain sear through my left arm, but I had no time to stop and look how bad the wound was, or what had even caused it. More sounds echoed, so I leapt behind a short ornamental tree.

Pain tore through my right foot. I cursed, knowing I was now stuck behind a tree trunk, and because my foot was hurt, I would not be fast enough to dodge to whoever it was before they could shoot me again.

I glanced down to see that it was a small needle that was stuck in the middle of my right foot, going all the way through it. Footsteps thudded from behind me, but I had no time to look as more of those zipping sounds came from ahead of me, in front of the tree.

“Akari?” a voice from behind me asked.

Immediately, I knew who the sarcastic, husky voice belonged to.

“Get down!” I hissed, without looking to see if Shinji had listened. It did not sound as if he was alone.

“What’s going on?” he demanded in my left ear.

“There is someone following me and whoever they are, they are highly skilled. I still have not been able to see them.” I frowned.

Shinji narrowed his eyes, glancing around the tree. Matsui and Sasake were with him, and they hid behind a cluster of bushes on the left side of the path.

We all stayed quiet to listen. Silence.

I grimaced.

Shinji got a mischievous look in his eyes seconds before he darted out from behind the tree, hand on his katana, a cold anticipation in his eyes and his smirk on his face.

“Shinji…!” I urged in a loud whisper.

He glanced at me, smirk growing, before strutting forward with an air of arrogance about him.

I desperately wanted to hit him. Muttering to myself, mostly cursing at him, I jumped out from behind the tree, standing beside him with my hand on my katana.

But all was silent.

“Whoever he was, he is gone now. He must have seen us coming and then left.” Shinji’s hands relaxed at his sides.

“Which means,” Matsui added, coming out from behind the bush, “that he was coming after you, and you alone, Okada.”

I frowned. “Why would—“ I stopped short, realizing that my arm no longer hurt.

“Akari, what’s wrong?” Shinji asked, looking at me with his smirk gone.

I shook my head, but the movement only caused me to become dizzy.

Immediately, Shinji moved into action, attempting to pick me up, but I fought him off. He was stronger than I as he forcefully grabbed me and lifted me up, despite my irritation.

“What is wrong with her?” I heard Matsui’s voice ask from behind us.

“Poison,” came Shinji’s curt reply.

***

Hours later, I sat in my room, or rather a guest room inside the palace, waiting for Shinji to return with food. We had gone to the infirmary, but it took a team of doctors several hours to figure out exactly what type of poison had been used. Once they knew, one of them mixed the necessary herbs to make a tea. After the tea had worked, pushing back the numbing sensation in both my arm and foot, the pain had returned, but only a dull ache. Now, as I sat up on a tatami mat, my arm and foot were only sore.

The shoji slid opened and Shinji walked in, sliding it closed behind him. He held up a small bowl. “I hope you like miso soup. It’s about all I know how to make.”

I chuckled. “A skilled samurai warrior who can kill without a thought or hesitation, yet you do not know how to make anything besides miso soup?” I asked jokingly.

Shinji shot me a look with an expression that appeared to be appalled. “Hey, if you don’t want this…” He kept the bowl tucked safely close to his chest.

I slowly reached for my katana. “Give me the bowl, and no one will be hurt.”

Shinji laughed, nearly spilling the soup. “No one…? Woman, you’ve already been hurt! And you know as well as I do who would win if you went for your katana. All that would accomplish is the soup all over the floor.”

I nearly growled at him. “Just give me the soup!”

“Okay, okay!” he shouted, handing the bowl to me.

As soon as the smell hit me, my stomach lurched. I pushed it away and sprinted out of the room and into the closest meditation garden in the back. The minute I was outside, I collapsed onto the ground and threw up.

Shinji was right behind me. “Akari… What’s wrong..?”

I could only shake my head, and hold out a hand to push him away.

Naturally, he ignored it, shoving it aside roughly and pressing himself closer to me. One of his hands held my hair as the other massaged my back; they were gentle and comforting.

When I was through, I collapsed onto him, groaning lightly. He put his arms around me, holding me. I felt him shake with laughter. “Was my soup really that bad?” he demanded.

I lightly chuckled at him, but did not have it in me to laugh for long.

“The poison is still ing out of your system. Your body is just adjusting to it. You should get some rest. Come on,” he said, helping me up. He walked me all the way back to the room, slid the shoji shut behind him, and blew out the lantern. “I’m going to stay with you, in case you need me tonight, okay?” He continued, not exactly being polite in saying that anyone who saw us in a room together, or punished us for breaking the rules, could go curse themselves.

It was not the poison. I had been suspecting for weeks, but with the Battle for Chatan , I had ignored it, and pushed it back until I had forgotten about it completely. I was a samurai, and despite that I was secretly married, this could not happen to me. Especially not now, when I had assassins after me.

I could not be pregnant.

***

The next few days mostly consisted of Shinji and I speaking with Megumi and General Ryosuke about who could be behind the attacks. I was not entirely confident in Megumi’s decision to have Asano investigate the matter, but Ryosuke trusted him. Shinji and I trusted Matsui more, and Matsui agreed to discover what he could while he was still in the capital city.

As the days wore on, neither Matsui nor Asano discovered who had been behind the attack. After that, one day while I was in the city market buying food, I was accused of stealing from the shop from a few people in the crowd. Shinji was right there, but as soon as the crowd started in, there was no telling who had been the one to start it. The samurai patrolling the streets were soon called and I was arrested until they discovered who I was.

Though the crowd looked highly displeased, the samurai escorted me to stand before Megumi. Shinji, naturally, insisted that he come along. After speaking with a few of the eyewitnesses and with Shinji and I, she knew her first priority was to keep her people happy and safe, especially with the generals watching her every move. To appease the shop owner, she ordered that I pay him back the same price as what was stolen, and to appease the crowd, ordered that I not be allowed into the public without a samurai escort. Though it was annoying, I reluctantly agreed.

Megumi and I trained whenever we both had a chance. She was improving rather nicely, and not just with her sword technique. Training gave her something to focus on, especially with how depressed she had been lately. I could tell she was worried about something, but she would never say. As we rested after training one day, I decided to finally ask her about it.

“Is there something bothering you, Megumi?”

She frowned. “How can you tell?”

I shrugged. “You may be good with words, being Empress, but most of the time what we samurai cannot say with words, we say with our swords. You seemed… driven today. Forcing yourself to focus and train hard; as a distraction, I am assuming?”

She nodded. “I suppose there is no hiding it.” She pursed her lips, as if debating on whether to tell me or not.

“I train here every day with you on penalty of death. That is the biggest secret I could possibly share with someone. Anything else less than that, you can trust me with as well, Megumi.”

“Thank you very much, Akari.”

She seemed to be struggling for the right words.

“Are you worried about the recent negotiations that are going on with the Osaki clan?” I asked.

She swallowed deeply and nodded slowly. “In a manner, yes.”

I gestured for her to continue speaking.

She cleared her throat, and glared at the ground, as if taking out whatever anger she felt on it through her eyes alone. “It was… suggested that I ally myself and our clan with the Osaki by proposing a marriage alliance… between Emperor Osaki and myself.”

I gasped. “What? You did not follow through with it, did you?”

She nodded, again, rather slowly.

“Why?” I demanded.

She shrugged. “I had no choice! Koike brought up some very valid points. With the Yamada clan now officially aligned with and assisting the Iwashita, it will be that much harder to defeat them. We may have the upper hand now, but we will not keep it with just our troops alone. We need help. All the other negotiations are taking too long and with the proposal to Emperor Osaki, even the possibility of marriage with me will be enough for him to at least send in half his samurai to help.”

“What about General Ryosuke?” I frowned, glaring at the ground as well.

“What about him?” Though her tone sounded carefully neutral, there was

something in it that betrayed her voice.

I glanced at her. “You are fond of him, are you not? You would betray your own heart?”

She swallowed. “If it meant saving my clan and keeping my people safe, then yes, I would betray my own heart.”

I narrowed my eyes, but not at her. If I had to face that same decision; give up Shinji to save my people, could I do it? Did I have it inside me to be that selfless, to have that much honor and loyalty?

Did a samurai’s loyalty include loyalty to one’s own heart? I did not know the answer. “Have you told him yet?” I asked her.

She nodded without saying a word.

I glanced at her, waiting patiently for her to speak.

“He… was angry at first. He was hurt that I did not consult him first before making a final decision, but I… I just could not. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do thus far, and if I had talked it over with him, one look at him and I would not have had it in me. I had to do what was needed for this clan and that is all.” Her typically controlled expression showed so much pain that I had to glance away from her.

“Megumi, I am… I cannot imagine what you are going through.”

“It is my duty as Empress.” She said it matter-of-factly.

Almost absentmindedly, I placed a gentle hand on my stomach.

“Have you told him yet?” Her voice was gentle and kind.

I gasped, glancing at her. “What?”

She nodded at me, toward my stomach.

Looking down at my stomach, I jerked my hand away as if I had been shocked. I pursed my lips. “How did you know?”

She smiled warmly. “You speak well with your katana, too, Akari.”

I smiled, though I was sure it did not reach my eyes. “I am unsure how to tell him. I am a samurai first, and I belong to him second. It is how my life works. If —I mean, a child would have to have first priority and I just… I cannot. Not now.”

She frowned. “Must your duties as a samurai keep your own happiness from you?”

I shook my head. “Despite that, as a samurai, I must put personal gain, happiness, power... all of that aside, being a samurai is what makes me happy. Shinji is also a samurai and understands this as well. And he makes me happy. So, it all works. But this…” I let my voice trail off, unsure of what else to say. When I spoke next, my voice was nothing but a murmur. “I cannot be a samurai and a mother.”

***

By the time I returned to the palace, it was well into the night and Shinji had been waiting in the guest room that I had temporarily made into my own. “Is something wrong?” I slid the shoji closed behind me.

“Yamada and Iwashita samurai have invaded and laid siege to Tojoshi. We are being summoned to an emergency council meeting.” Shinji’s eyes were narrowed and focused, and his expression was carefully alert.

I nodded; this was obviously deadly serious.

Together, Shinji and I left to meet with the council. During the meeting, the messenger, Toshi, relayed his report for the whole council to hear. The generals argued over what to do, while Ryosuke and Shinji actually agreed to send Asano and his watchmen to observe the situation before sending troops in.

“The longer we wait, the more lives that are at stake!” General Nomura shouted. The other generals are shouted in agreement with him.

“Would you abandon your people, Empress Sakamoto?” General Hattori demanded harshly.

Megumi remained silent for a moment, while she carefully thought of her reply. “Akari, and Shinji, you along with half of General Hattori’s samurai will go and assist the people at Tojoshi. Your priority should be to the people and their safety first. Once they are safe, then you may assess the situation and drive the samurai away from Tojoshi.”

Though Shinji frowned, he and I both inclined our heads to her. After that, we were ordered to prepare ourselves and wait by the palace gate while General Hattori assembled the men and assigned who would be going with us. It took nearly two hours before Matsui and his squad made up the front line of samurai at the gates, numbering of about four hundred and twenty-five. After that, we set off for Tojoshi.

It took us almost an entire week with minimal stops before we reached the outskirts of Tojoshi. It was one of the few cities that had been developed into a stronghold in the area. Many people had flocked there and camped in the plain many years before, because of how close it was with main trading port, the city Tanazaki. Eventually, to protect it, the stronghold grew around the people, and so centuries later, it evolved into a castle city.

By the time we arrived, our scouts returned with odd news, informing us that there were no Yamada or Iwashita samurai within sight. After talking it over, the leader of the samurai, an ambitious man who followed behind every whim of General Hattori, decided to foolishly send Shinji and I, along with Matsui and

his entire squad, into the city to investigate. Though the three of us disagreed with him, and I had a bad feeling, he was second under Hattori, and because Hattori was not there, we had no choice but to follow his orders.

The closer we came to the castle city, the more the pit inside my stomach grew. I rested my right hand against my katana, while my left clenched around its sheath, ready in case I needed to unsheathe it in a hurry. The samurai at the gates were dressed in Sakamoto colors, and the flags surrounding the stronghold were that of the Sakamoto clan. Matsui told them who he was, and why we were here. The samurai, though they looked surprised, welcomed us and allowed us age into the stronghold city.

As soon as the gates shut behind us, the pit inside my stomach clenched tightly, and I knew something was very wrong. I heard a clank from behind me, as the gate slammed shut.

Samurai poured in all around us and we were ambushed.

Chapter Thirty-Six

MEGUMI

With the city Tojoshi being attacked, the mood of the council and everyone around the palace grew darker. I received a message from Ikeda about a week after Akari, Shinji, and the other samurai had left for Tojoshi. In his letter, he informed me that he had safely arrived at Emperor Osaki’s palace, and that he was being treated as an honored guest. They had begun discussing the proposal a few days before and according to Ikeda, Emperor Osaki appeared very interested. After reading the letter, I realized more had probably happened in the time it took the letter to arrive back at the capital. The darker part of me hoped that Osaki rejected the proposal, but I forced myself to banish the thought. My people needed his samurai; even just half of his army would be more than enough to assist us and give us the edge we needed in this war.

Matsushima’s execution did not go well with the other generals. Asano informed me they had increased the number of times they met in secret. When I asked, Ryosuke said that he had not been included in the meetings at all. I decided that it would be best if he did.

His eyes widened. “You wish for me to gain their trust?”

I nodded. “So that, eventually, they will confide in you. We must discover their intentions and plans.”

Asano frowned deeply. “Do you think they plan to overthrow you?”

“Under normal circumstances, no, but Matsushima’s execution only angered them further. Who is to say that his death did not give them the push they needed to go forward with their plans?”

Ryosuke shook his head. “With all due respect, Empress, I do not think that they could chance overthrowing you and risk a civil war, when we are already in the middle of a war with the Iwashita, which seems to be growing to involve the other clans.”

I nodded. “Perhaps. It is impossible to be certain without knowing the details of their meetings.”

Ryosuke nodded, bowing to me. “I will begin immediately.”

Asano also bowed. “I will continue to discover what I can as well, Empress.”

“Thank you both very much.”

***

I sat on a tatami mat inside one of the private meeting rooms when Chiaki let in a samurai who looked utterly exhausted. There were deep lines underneath his

eyes, blood stained his kimono, as well as on the hilt and sheath of his katana. His eyes were bloodshot and he had cuts on his face as well. His expression was very grim. Although, he did not wear the colors of the Iwashita or Yamada clan, neither did he wear our colors, either.

“Empress Sakamoto,” he addressed, bowing low. I could tell it took him great effort to do so.

“What is your name and where are you from?”

“I am Nishimura Sanjirou, son of Emperor Nishimura Isamu from the Nishimura clan.” He stayed bowing low to the ground, waiting for me to tell him he could stand. I believed him; his formal behavior gave away his royal heritage.

“Please come in and sit. You must be exhausted.” As he moved to sit on the tatami mat across from me, I ordered Chiaki to bring in tea and rice cakes. She bowed and slid the shoji shut behind her.

Once we were alone, I glanced at Sanjirou, who, now that he was up closer, I could see just how drained and fatigued he looked. “Why are you here?”

“I have come to bring you a message and to inform you on the situation at hand within the Nishimura clan, Empress Sakamoto.” His tone was strictly business.

I gestured for him to continue speaking.

“As you know, the Nishimura clan is surrounded by mountain ranges, with only a few es in and out of our borders. The Iwashita clan have invaded those es and blockaded us, keeping us trapped within our own borders without any way of communicating with any of the other clans. We laid siege to several of the strongholds within many of the es, but the Iwashita samurai there were dug in very well and all our attempts failed. We lost many men. After a year of this, we gave up trying to attack them, and began recruiting and training more samurai in order to build up our army. While that was happening, we tried several times to sneak a single person through the es, but the Iwashita army had it well guarded and none of our messengers got through. It was a month ago when the Iwashita army recalled only a few samurai, but it was enough to provide a small escape, albeit, not an easy one. I was sent to inform you that despite that no one has heard from the Nishimura clan in two and a half long years, we are still alive and we are still in this war. Rumors of the war between the Sakamoto and Iwashita clans have spread, and I am here to inform you that the Nishimura clan is still loyal and allied with the Sakamoto clan. As soon as we are able to break free from our borders, we will go after the Iwashita clan with a vengeance and assist you in winning this war.”

My eyes widened and I was left almost speechless. After a couple seconds, I recovered and bowed low to him. “Thank you very much, Prince Nishimura, for coming here and giving me this information personally.”

Chiaki returned with a tray. I gestured for her to bring it to Sanjirou first.

“I regret that I will be unable to send in troops of my own to assist you and your clan, but I am short of my own. The Iwashita have now aligned themselves with the Yamada, and though the Yamada have not proven much of a threat thus far, I have no doubts that that will not last for very long.” I took a sip of tea, narrowing my eyes.

Sanjirou nodded, brushing crumbs off his fingers after eating his third rice cake. “The Yamada clan is rich in horses; the clan with the most horses, actually. If they haven’t sent in calvary samurai yet, then they soon will.”

I swallowed deeply, but nodded gravely. “It will be something I can prepare for.”

Sanjirou informed me that the Iwashita did not try to take over their clan, and the Iwashita samurai never marched for any other strongholds besides the ones inside the es. They held the es, trapping the Nishimura in, and that was all. He had suspicions that as this war continued, and Emperor Iwashita became desperate for more samurai, he would recall enough of his troops to make it easier for the Nishimura to retake the es and march on the Iwashita. With my permission, he also requested that he stay here to serve underneath me in whatever way he could, to await his troops who would be coming to assist us as soon as they were able. It was a sign of good faith, a sign of their oath of allegiance to me. I told him I would have to speak it over with the council before making a final decision, but in my mind, I was already planning to let him stay. I would not willingly condone him to death by not allowing him to stay— returning to his own clan would be an impossibility, if so much effort had been put into his escape in the first place.

At a time like this, I could not withhold this precious information from the generals. They were watching my every move. I sent Chiaki to show Sanjirou to a guest room and to make sure he bathed, was given clean clothes, and received more food and medical aid. As soon as they left, I sent another servant to call an emergency council meeting in an hour. In the meantime, I went to see Ryosuke.

He was in his office in the dojo grounds, as usual, busy writing letters, sending out messengers, changing troop movements and schedules, and planning for new recruits and training.

“General Kurosawa?” I asked as I stood in front of the shoji.

There was no reply, but there was rustling sounds from the other side. After a few more seconds, there were light voices from inside the room, and I heard Ryosuke’s gruff voice short and clipped as he spoke with someone else. I politely waited for the voices to stop before I spoke again.

Just as I got ready to speak, the shoji slid open. I lightly jumped in surprise. The man behind the shoji, who happened to be the messenger, Toshi, immediately bowed and apologized.

“It is alright. Please, continue on your business.”

He bowed again and walked on ed me.

I walked into the room and slid the shoji shut behind me. I knelt on the mat, waiting for Ryosuke to come to a stopping point in his work.

His back was facing me, and he obviously had not heard my encounter with Toshi. I sat quietly as I politely waited for him to finish writing, what I assumed, was a letter.

“Yasuo! I need this letter sent out immediately!”

The shoji slid open and a younger man who served as Ryosuke’s page, came in. He took one look at me and immediately bowed low on the floor.

“Yasuo! Now!”

The boy glanced at me, then sat up, stuttering. “Y—yes, sir, General Kurosawa.”

“And on your way out, inform the samurai on the south wall that their shift changes in an hour. I want them to get some rest before they continue training new recruits at sunset.”

“Yes, sir.”

The poor boy was unsure whether to leave immediately, or bow to me in respect first. I gestured for him to go ahead and leave, and I gave him a reassuring smile as he clumsily made his way to the shoji and slid it shut behind him.

Ryosuke sighed and made a movement that, from the angle I was sitting at, looked as if he was rubbing his eyes. He drew out a new sheet of paper and began to write again.

I cleared my throat.

He turned with an annoyed look on his face. “Yasuo, I told you—!” When he saw me, he stopped mid-sentence and bowed. “Empress Sakamoto, I did not see you there.”

“It is only me, Ryosuke. You do not have to be so formal.”

He rose up from his bow and turned to face me fully, but frowned. “You are my Empress. It is only correct that I do so.” His tone was strictly business; there was formalness to it that had never been there before. Now, he was colder and more distant than he had ever been.

“Ryosuke, please… do not continue to do this.” I did not have it in me to keep up the façade, especially not with him. Not anymore. “I am not only your Empress! That is only half of who I am!”

He would not meet my eyes, though he looked in my direction. “What is the other half?”

I swallowed deeply. “I am also your friend, which you seem to have forgotten.” My tone changed; I was no longer yelling at him, but murmuring, my voice so low it was barely above a whisper.

He did not reply nor did he look at me.

It was agonizing. No longer able to stand the distance between us, I walked over to him and knelt in front of him, placing my hand on his cheek. “Look at me,” I

whispered.

Slowly, ever-so-slowly, he turned his face and then shifted his eyes to meet mine. In them was the same longing and desperation that I felt inside my heart. “I can’t do this anymore,” he snarled and all formal politeness vanished from his tone. All distance was gone from his gaze and expression, replaced by confidence and trust, understanding and protectiveness. The protectiveness was not as it usually was; not from General to Empress, but from Ryosuke to me, with possession unlike any I had ever seen before.

With those words, he closed the distance between us, placing one hand behind my neck and tangling it in my hair, while the other one slid down to find my waist. Our lips touched, and it was as if breathing for the first time. There was a careful desperation. I kissed him slowly, carefully, as if he might shatter at any moment, yet he kissed me back with ferocious determination, as if barely grasping the edge of a cliff… so gentle, yet so urgently and desperately trying to hold on.

I ran my fingers through his hair, so smooth and soft to the touch. I grasped it firmly, pulling him closer to me, deepening the kiss that was long overdue. All of my control, all stoicism and careful resignation completely shattered in that moment.

All of the sudden, he froze and pushed me away from him as if he had been punched. He glared at me, and then shifted his eyes to the tatami mat across from his. I quickly moved to kneel upon it once again, as he did the same.

“General Kurosawa?” a voice asked from outside the shoji.

“Empress Sakamoto is here relaying important information. Can it wait?” Ryosuke’s tone was formal once again; rough and with the competence of a strong leader.

I pursed my lips, and drew my hair around my face, hoping that concealed how flushed I was.

“I am sorry for disrupting you. I only came to inform you of the emergency council meeting that Empress Sakamoto called.” The voice outside spoke slowly, as if confusion had settled in.

Desperate to cover up the situation, I decided to speak. “I came to inform General Kurosawa of the situation personally before the meeting.”

“Thank you very much for telling me of the council meeting, Yasuo,” Ryosuke said.

As soon as Yasuo left, Ryosuke and I met gazes and I knew I could never allow myself to be that careless ever again.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

AKARI

We all drew our katanas and fought the samurai as best as we could.

I cut down one samurai after another, moving beside Shinji, but even at our best, we were no match for the numbers.

“We need to hole up somewhere! We’ll never last long out here!” Shinji said inbetween cutting down one samurai and another.

I lunged toward a samurai, met his attack, and then slipped into his zone, slicing his side, then came back from that swing to tear through another man’s neck and finally, to block another attack from my right. A quick glance around the area initially seemed to indicate no place was void of enemies. Then, to my far right, there was a break in the samurai, and I could clearly see a building that appeared to be abandoned.

“Shinji!” I shifted my eyes to the building.

He nodded, as he blocked a sword and pushed back against the samurai who had attacked him. “Follow Akari!” he shouted to the other men. Matsui and Sasake met my gaze and nodded.

I turned to my right, cutting down one samurai in front of me, then barely had enough time to block another ronin. He charged toward me, and I met his strike toward my stomach, blocking it easily. The man growled and pressed toward me, but I ducked underneath his arm and came around behind him to slice his back. My katana was blocked by another samurai who had come in to save him. The ronin turned, nodding his head in acknowledgement to the one who had saved him, and they both started toward me.

One attacked from my left toward my shoulder as the other went toward my right side. I swung my blade all in one movement, narrowly blocking both of their attacks.

“Shinji, you will have to break through,” I hissed.

“What you can’t handle a couple of amateur samurai?” He chuckled and I heard the sound of his sword slicing through flesh again and again.

I glared at the men and charged forward meeting attacks from the left, and then the right, and then stabbed forward pressing against one man’s katana. He grunted and I heard Shinji chuckle again. In anger and annoyance, I kicked out, hitting the man in his lower abdomen. The pause it took for him to recover gave me the opening I needed to stab him. The minute my blade stuck inside his abdomen, I knew the other one would be attacking me. I ducked underneath his sword as it sailed toward the back of my neck, turned to face him, and unsheathed my wakazashi all in one movement. I twisted to the right to avoid his katana and then slid my wakazashi up into his right rib cage.

As I yanked my wakazashi out of his flesh and sheathed it, I turned and retrieved

my katana. I met Shinji’s gaze with a glare, shooting him a triumphant grin.

He rolled his eyes as he blocked an attack to his head, then drove his blade deep into the man’s chest.

I turned back toward the building, slicing a man to my left, then met the attack of another one who came at me from the front. A man swung toward me from the right, so I twisted left, ed him, to slice his back. Another man on the left was completely exposed, so I quickly stabbed him, ducked from another attack behind me, and elbowed that man in the face as I whirled around to strike him in the chest. I came around from that movement to stab another man in front of me in the neck, and quickly yanked out my katana.

I had finally broken through.

Sprinting toward the building, I turned to stab another samurai who had been following me. Matsui, Sasake, and the rest of the men were not far behind. I stood, holding the doorway as the samurai from our squad dashed inside behind me. Shinji was the last to arrive and we stood inside the room, cutting down samurai after samurai to hold them off.

Matsui, Sasake, and a few other men had turned over a table and they lifted it to the entrance. The shoji had been torn away, so they placed the table against the doorway. A few of the other men placed random furniture to help block it.

Once we were inside, all of us breathing hard and cut up in some way or another, we took a moment to rest. “We have to get a messenger to Commander Uchida and inform him that the city has already been overrun.” Shinji’s eyes narrowed

as he spoke.

“One will be easier to hide from the Iwashita and Yamada samurai, but it will be dangerous. Who could be entrusted with such a message?” I asked.

“The most skilled among us is either Matsui, Akari, or me.” Shinji’s voice was matter-of-fact.

“Matsui is the squad’s commander. He should be here to lead his men.” I pursed my lips after I spoke, deep in thought. That left only Shinji or me.

Our eyes met and both of us seemed reluctant to force the other one to go. After a while in thought, I realized in order to give the messenger time to escape from the city, the others who stayed behind would have to create a distraction. Either task would be equally dangerous.

As if coming to this same understanding, Shinji nodded. “You are smaller. You might have an easier time escaping from the city unseen.”

I nodded. “All right then, I will go. I do not know this city’s streets very well; where would my best chance for escape be?”

Sasake was the one to speak up. “This particular castle has a secret ageway out of the city walls in case of a siege. It is such an important position, so in case it was overrun, there would be a quick and easy way back inside the walls. My brothers and I stumbled upon the ageway one time... I never knew the

knowledge of its existence would come in handy someday, though.”

“Where is the entrance to the ageway?” I asked him.

He gave me quick and easy instructions. “Find the shrine east of the marketplace. At the back of the shrine is a cemetery. Go to the biggest cherry blossom tree at the center, remove the stone, and inside the hole is the tunnel to the ageway.” I went over the instructions several times to get them firmly in my mind, before nodding.

The men discussed what they would do as a distraction. They did not have long to discuss it. The samurai outside the door were trying to break down the barrier.

Sasake lead me to the back of the building, which I realized was an inn. He took me upstairs. “They will be watching the roof, but one of the back windows? They will not be expecting that.”

I nodded and readied myself. A gentle breeze blew in from the open window, making my hair dance around my face. Shinji met my eyes and gave a curt nod, before following Sasake back downstairs with the other men.

I was not sure what they would do to cause a distraction—perhaps exit from the back and come around behind the samurai. But more than likely by now, they had the place surrounded. My guess was they would divide themselves; half go for the roof and come from above while the other half tried from the back.

From outside the window, I saw exactly why Sasake had chosen this window. There was another window in the building beside this one, which was open. As soon as the samurai outside were distracted, I would be able to jump out this window and land in that one, and then make my exit from that building unseen.

At that moment, I could just make out the faint sounds of voices from below. I could not quite see all of the men, but I knew then that I was right; they had gathered to nearly surround the place. It was not long before the clash of swords rang from the distance—toward the front from what it sounded like— and slowly the voices from below me drifted away. There were more thuds and then yelling, followed by the clashes of katanas and the sounds of fighting. I climbed onto the window and glanced down.

The fighting in the front meant that the street below me was empty of samurai. This was my chance. I did not think; I only moved.

With a mighty leap, I hurled myself from the window and into the one in the building next door. I managed to grab ahold of it and pull myself in. Taking a few deep breaths, I glanced behind me to make sure I had not been seen. Satisfied, I sprinted through the building and found a window downstairs on the opposite side, as far away from the fighting as possible.

I slipped out of it and made my way through the winding streets. It was difficult to try to hurry, and at the same time, be slow enough to watch out for patrols and opposing samurai. I had no idea where I was, and even though it was daytime, the streets were empty. Most everything was barricaded, and there were no people out and about like there should have been; more evidence that the Iwashita had completely taken over. After a frustrating hour of sneaking and winding around, feeling as if I was going in circles, I finally found an area with venders off to the sides of the street. It was a big open square, from what I could see at my spot inside a partially destroyed shop.

Most of the buildings in the city had taken damage in some way. If there were any people left, they were more than likely either rounded up or had taken refuge somewhere else. After a minute or so of looking around the marketplace, I found the shrine. It was a tall building, so even though it was a few blocks away, I could clearly see it in the distance.

I hesitated.

There was a samurai patrol running through the main street. I stayed where I was and waited for them to before coming out of my hiding spot and making my way toward the shrine.

Once there, I could hear the sounds of chanting and soft murmurs of prayers from inside. There were more voices, and I realized that many of the injured people had been taken there. Children with tear-filled faces huddled together in corners, men and women laid on the ground moaning in pain, monks ed out rice cakes to several people, and women carried water buckets and tended to the wounded.

I swallowed deeply, and though the monks praying inside did not believe as I did, I silently held respect for them in trying to help the people.

I walked around to the back where more people were sitting outside, resting while they could. It did not take long to find the cemetery, so I remained as quiet as possible. The cherry blossom tree stood in the center, the tallest thing in sight outside of the building itself. It towered over everything else, the beautiful petals dancing around the graves, adding beauty to the tragedy going on below.

Around the back of the tree was the stone, as Sasake had said. I looked around, watching for any Iwashita or Yamada samurai. Carefully, I removed the stone, and peered down into the hole.

A voice cleared his throat to my left. I turned, immediately going into a defensive stance, my hand clenched around my katana. It was only a monk. Though I relaxed a little, I kept my hand on the hilt.

He smiled gently at me and held out a lantern. “You will need this. Please, be safe.”

I nodded, bowing to him in thanks, took the lantern, and jumped inside the hole. Though I landed hard on my feet, I managed to stay upright with the lantern intact. The walls were made of dirt, which eventually turned to cracked stone. Moss and vines hung at random intervals. The air was murky and smelled stale.

It took nearly an hour for me to walk through the entire tunnel as it winded and curved around. At the end, there was a bit of an incline, but I made my way up and eventually, I had to grab onto a branch with my left hand, while my right still held the lantern. I pulled myself up and out onto solid ground.

The sky overhead was dark, a blanket of purple that pushed back the orange and pink sunset slowly fading over the horizon. The time of the high moon was back, and it was as distant as the other stars which surrounded it. I had to rely on the light from the lantern to guide my way.

I could just make out the walls of the city some distance behind me. For fear of patrols, I stayed in the trees, using shadows of the trunks to hide me. I would have gotten rid of the lantern, but I needed it to see. It was not long before the neighs of horses, the murmur of voices, the clanging of metal on metal as katanas were being sharpened, and the grunts of samurai practicing and honing their techniques was loud in my ears. I continued walking a few more yards through the trees and finally they broke. Through the branches I could see a clearing where the camp had been made. The meadow was full of hills and dips in the terrain, making it hard to walk quickly without falling or twisting an ankle.

Just as I was about to exit the tree line into the meadow, several Iwashita samurai jumped out of the trees, blocking my way. I dropped the lantern, backing away from them and turned to run deeper into the woods, but samurai had gathered there too. As I turned, I realized that I was completely surrounded.

I stepped into a defensive stance, unsheathing my katana as I did so. Without hesitation, I launched into a wild attack. My best chance of survival was if the samurai on watch inside the camp noticed the fight. Even I was not good enough against twenty to thirty enemy samurai.

I turned back toward the ones blocking my way out of the tree line. Lunging toward them, I sliced my katana toward a man’s right shoulder and then shifted to block an attack from the man on his left. The first man had blocked my attack with ease and slipped inside my zone, quicker than I could follow. The second man pushed against my blade, forcing me backwards until I stumbled and almost fell.

They were better swordsmen than the usual samurai the Iwashita had. My only chance was to get the lantern and throw it against one of the trees to start a fire. I blocked several more attacks before I had a chance to look for the lantern. Ducking beneath another sword, I darted toward the lantern, sliding under a few more katanas along the way. I grabbed the lantern and threw it as hard as I could

toward the tree closest to the meadow. It landed about ten feet up or so and immediately the leaves burst into flames.

One of the samurai that was closest to me growled a curse and came toward me. I rolled out of the way of his blade and leapt to my feet, but that left me unable to dodge or block at attack from the right and slightly behind me. The upper part of my arm was sliced, but I jumped away, clenching my katana tighter.

I blocked an attack toward my head, then jumped over another one swinging low toward my feet. I had just enough time to duck underneath a sword coming toward the back of my head, as I blocked an attack toward my chest at the same time. I pushed against that man’s sword, but he pushed back, causing me to stumble once again. As I tried to back away into a better defensive stance, I realized enemy samurai blocked the way.

I was surrounded on all sides, unable to move.

Suddenly, there was pain in the back of my head, and distantly I realized one of the samurai hit me with the back of his blade.

I collapsed, but kept a tight hold on my sword, clenching my teeth to keep from groaning. My vision blurred, but I could just barely make out a shape coming toward my stomach. I held up my blade horizontally as the man’s sword came down. I blocked him, grunting with effort, but I managed to shove his blade so that it stabbed the ground beside me.

“Stop. We should take her alive,” one voice said.

“Why? She’s just a foolish samurai.”

“She’s wearing the colors of the Sakamoto. Her kimono and the hilt of her katana suggests someone of importance. She could work directly under the commander in that camp.”

“So, she was sent in to spy?”

“She could lead us to the other samurai that escaped inside the city. With that entire squad’s capture, we can force their commander to retreat and get information from the prisoners.”

It was getting difficult to tell one voice from another, but I could not allow myself to be taken prisoner. I would out soon, but if I could just hold on in time for the others to see the fire…

“We don’t have much time. They’ll see the fire soon.”

“Knock her out.”

I rolled to the side, kicking out the legs from under one man, while I grabbed the wrist of another and threw him forward into yet another man. They were all yelling, though I could not hear what. I rolled out of the way of a katana right before one swung down and slammed me in the stomach with its non-sharpened

side.

I gasped for air, but it would not come and my vision was growing darker and darker. Voices mixed and blurred, but the shouts of men and clanging of blades was the last thing I heard before I fell unconscious.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

MEGUMI

After the emergency council meeting was over, during which everyone except Koike seemed quite pleased about Prince Nishimura’s arrival, Asano seemed troubled.

I did not ask him outright, but as everyone filed out of the room, I politely asked Ryosuke to stay. Once the shoji was closed, I turned to face him. “Did you notice Asano’s behavior during the meeting?”

He narrowed his eyes, but nodded. “Yes. There is something bothering him, but I am not sure what.”

“Do you think he would confide in you?” I asked.

“He will discuss whatever it is when he is ready.”

I nodded, unsure of what else to say.

“If that is all, Empress, I must go. If you wish to have the other generals trust

me, I cannot risk being seen with you in private for long.” Ryosuke would not meet my eyes.

I swallowed deeply, but nodded, gesturing for him to leave. “Go and continue your work.”

After he left, the room seemed all too quiet. I was grateful for a small moment of peace, however long it would last. Since I had become Empress, it was rare when I had a moment to myself.

“Empress Sakamoto.”

I glanced up, smiling to myself. I knew it would not last long. “Yes, what is it?” I asked.

Chiaki timidly walked into the room, sliding the shoji closed behind her. “With your permission, I must inform you of something I overheard.”

I motioned for her to come closer.

She knelt on a tatami mat directly across from me and folded her hands in her lap.

“What is it that you overheard?” I asked her.

She hesitated, biting her lip. Then at last, she finally spoke, nodding her head as if silently making up her mind. “I was walking into a room to clean it, believing it to be empty, but when I got inside, I realized I was not alone. I turned to leave, but a part of the conversation drifted to me, so I stayed to listen. There were two men quietly speaking to one another. One was talking about informing the samurai inside the city of Tojoshi of the incoming Sakamoto samurai so that they could properly prepare for the attack and drive the Sakamoto samurai back.”

My eyes widened. “Who were these two men? Were they here in the palace?”

She nodded. “Yes, they were. I did not recognize one of them, but the other one was the messenger, Toshi.”

I stifled back a gasp in surprise. “When was this?”

“Yesterday, Empress Sakamoto. Please forgive me, but I waited a day to ensure that I had not been seen!” She bowed low to the ground, her hands trembling.

“Do not apologize. You had valuable yet dangerous information in your hands. You did what was right. Thank you for this information. If there is nothing else, you may leave.”

She nodded, bowed, and then left the room.

I needed to speak to Ryosuke, but more than likely he was busy dealing with the generals. It would be unwise of me to bother him at that moment, so I decided to wait to speak to him until the next day. It was likely that Chiaki had either mistaken or misunderstood what she had heard. However, it was still something to be addressed, but not immediately. It could wait, I told myself.

Yawning, I decided to go on to my chambers and sleep for the night.

***

Later that night, I awoke from a nightmare about my parents’ deaths. I sat up on the tatami mat with heaving breaths. From outside my window, the moon eased ever-so-slightly toward the edge of the horizon, which meant dawn was not too far away. I stood up and tightened the tie that held my nemaki together, before sliding open the shoji and going out into the hall. I did not wish to be alone, and thought perhaps Chiaki would like to enjoy some tea and rice cakes with me.

I walked through the hall and down a small flight of stairs until I stood before a shoji, which led into a smaller room. There was no light coming from inside the room, which meant Chiaki was probably still asleep.

I cleared my throat and called her name a few times. When there was no answer, I slid the shoji open, informing her that I was coming in. I slid it closed behind me before I saw the horror that lay before me.

Chiaki’s body lay on her tatami mat, a crimson pool of blood underneath her. The moon reflected on it, making it appear more silver than red. Her eyes were wide, staring into nothingness, and her mouth gaped open, the last expression on

her face a mixture of terror and shock.

She was dead.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

AKARI

When I awoke, I lay inside a tent on soft bedding on the ground. There was no one around, so I quickly sat up. My head spun, but I glanced around the room regardless and stayed sitting up. My katana was against the ground to my right beside my wakazashi. I knelt, grabbed them both, and placed them back on my left hip. Slowly, I stood, trying not to make myself dizzy again. Pain surged through my stomach and I grunted, doubling over.

Kneeling back down, I undid the top of my kimono enough so that I could see my stomach for myself. All across it was a huge bruise, black and blue. A bruise like that would have been sore, yes, but I had faced worse injuries than that. So why was this hurting so much?

As I asked the question inside my mind, it dawned on me and I swallowed back a lump in my throat. I quickly checked the bedding I had been lying on. There was blood on it, just as I had feared. I had known without a shadow of a doubt that I was pregnant when I came here. Had this injury been enough to make me lose the baby?

A pit had formed inside my chest, making it hard to breathe. I realized it was fear, fear that the injury had been enough, fear that I could not answer that question, fear that I would have to the doctor in the camp… fear that I did not want to know the answer at all, and fear that I did.

Outside the tent was a bucket full of water and beside it a clean change of clothes. I grabbed the kimono and hakama, along with the bucket of water and went back inside the tent. There was a cloth that had been lying beside the bedding, so I wet it down and used it to bathe as well as I could. I changed into the clean kimono and then placed the hakama over the kimono. I slipped my katana and wakazahi back at my left hip. I went outside the tent, and decided I should find out the situation in the camp first, before finding a doctor.

Once outside, I realized that I was indeed inside Commander Uchida’s camp, although most of the men were gone. As I continued walking, it became apparent that I was in the medical area. Many samurai lay inside or outside tents, groaning, while some screamed and cried out in pain. It took a few more minutes of exploring before I finally found an unwounded man who was taking care of the other injured.

“Excuse me, doctor?” I asked, coming up to him.

He glanced up at me from his work sewing together a slash to a man’s side. “You were the one they brought in last night. You had a… a head wound and a wound to the abdomen, right? Give me a minute and I’ll check on those.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. I just was wondering what the situation was here. You said I was brought in last night, which means I’ve been unconscious for almost a day?” I phrased it like a question.

He nodded, focusing back on his work. “Yes. After they brought you in, the samurai who saw the fire was able to successfully kill all the enemy samurai, leaving only a couple alive to question. They revealed that there was a squad of

ours trapped inside the city and that there was a ageway into the city. Commander Uchida sent in two squadrons through the ageway to rescue the squadron that was trapped inside. They were ambushed and only a few made it out alive. The city is completely overrun and there’s no way we could siege it with only four hundred samurai. Commander Uchida has ordered the retreat until we can get reinforcements.”

I frowned. “Retreat? Where are the other samurai, then?”

The doctor paused and looked at me, his eyes grave. “They already left, leaving only a squad of samurai here to guard the ones too injured to move on their own. I volunteered to stay back with them so I could treat them. It’s been about an hour since they left, so it will not be long until the samurai from the city send out squads to attack us.”

I gasped, not bothering to hide my surprise. “Wh—why would Uchida give such a command?”

The doctor pursed his lips, and shook his head. “If you are able, you should leave immediately.”

I nodded, swallowing. “Do—uh, the squad that was inside the city…? Do you know where the survivors went?”

“The ones that survived were injured, so they’re probably around here somewhere. I think there was only one or two that was able to leave with the men. The rest never made it out alive.” The doctor did not bother to look at me as he spoke.

I walked away, my chest heaving, frantically searching the faces of all the injured men. Shinji. Where was he? I ran through the camp, searching every injured face that I could, part of me hoping I would find him, and then part of me hoping that he would have been well enough to retreat with the other men.

After some time, I gave up, and decided to the other samurai at the front, preparing for an oncoming attack. Though these men were injured, they did not deserve to be left here to be killed, unarmed and unable to fight for themselves. The thought of the dishonor in not only retreating, but doing so and leaving dying men behind for a chance to escape….

Anger gripped me furiously and squeezed until I could hardly breathe.

When I reached the front of the camp, I realized the doctor had been overstating when he had said that a squad of samurai had stayed behind. There were only five men here, and one of them was sitting down with blood on his right foot. The others were finishing barricades that had been placed all along the front of the camp.

One of the men turned to meet my gaze. His narrow eyes, though appearing bored, were alert and watchful as his expression changed from concentration to surprise. However, his gaze softened as it met mine.

“Shinji.”

Suddenly, his sharp jawline tensed, his expression dark and angry. He stormed

over to me, and I flinched, assuming he was going to hit me. Though he stood toe-to-toe with me, he did not move to strike me. He cursed loudly, yelling at me profoundly. “What are you doing here woman? Why haven’t you left yet?”

I matched his angry expression with one of my own. “Because I was looking for you!” I stepped closer to him, hands on my hips and fire in my eyes, but he did not back down as I had expected. “I woke up without any idea of what was going on, left to find a doctor to discover what exactly had happened, and then I had to scour the entire camp, not sure if you had left, or if you were one of the injured, or even if you were dead! How dare you yell at me about staying behind! What are you doing, Shinji? Why have you not left yet?”

We glared at each other furiously, and he remained silent, but neither one of us wanted to back down. Suddenly, Shinji’s arms were roughly crushing mine and his lips planted firmly against my own.

I backed up and smacked him across the face as hard as I could.

He looked at me and though his smirk was in place, I could see just a hint of surprise in his slightly widened eyes.

“Do not kiss me when I am angry at you!”

“Angry at me? You’ve been injured... you were surrounded by thirty samurai, nearly got yourself killed, and you’re angry at me?”

I glared at him, unable to find something else to say.

His smirk grew. “What? Ran out of things to say?”

I growled at him in frustration then turned my back on him and walked at a brisk pace throughout the camp.

“Akari!” I ignored his husky voice shouting from behind me, and walked even faster.

It only took him seconds before he was in front of me, pushing me into a tent with ease and grace that was inhuman-like and standing in my way, blocking my exit. I sighed, crossing my arms.

“You were hurt, but I knew you weren’t going to die. I left someone there to tell you what was going on and that I had decided to stay behind, but apparently, he took the horse I left for you.” Shinji sighed, but continued. “After I heard about Uchida’s retreat, I decided to help out the samurai who had stayed behind. They don’t stand a chance, especially if they send several squads in from the city.” As he spoke, I realized it had been about honor for him; this was yet another thing the Iwashita was doing that held no honor, and now even our own commander was doing the same, dishonorable act. I could feel how angry it made him.

I nodded. “I know. It is why I went to the front when I could not find you.”

He smiled. “I know. But shouldn’t you be resting?” His eyes still held a hint of

arrogance that he had won the argument, but beneath that, there was also concern for me.

I shook my head. “It was only a small bump on the head and a bruise. I am fine.” I smiled at him, but quickly looked away. I was worried if he met my gaze too long, he would see right through me.

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re lying to me?”

I pursed my lips, shrugging, and looked at him again. “I really do not think you are one to talk about lying.”

He frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There was more that happened when Matsushima sent you and a squad after the fleeing Iwashita samurai. Something that you have refused to tell me. If you are going to accuse me of lying, I think you should look at yourself first.”

He glared at me. “Why does that matter?”

I shrugged. “Whatever reason you had for lying, I know it was a good one and therefore, I have not pried you about it.”

He narrowed his eyes to glare at the ground. “Fair enough. You’ll tell me when

you’re ready. But if your life is in danger…”

I smiled at him. “I would tell you, Shinji.”

He nodded, satisfied with my answer.

“Do you plan to stay here?” I asked him.

“You couldn’t be moved, and since I disagreed with leaving anyway, I stayed behind. I go where you go, but if you’re planning to stay and die gloriously in battle, you could at least warn me first. It would be shame to let my woman die before me.” His infuriating smirk stayed frustratingly in place.

I glared at him, debating whether to smack him again. Instead, I kept my arms at my sides. “I disagree with Uchida retreating as well, but someone needs to ensure that reinforcements come to help him retake the city. I cannot trust that task to anyone under Uchida.” After a slight pause, I spoke up again. “Did Matsui and Sasake make it out alive?”

Shinji nodded. “Sasake took a nasty cut in his leg, but he’s alive. Matsui retreated with the men so that he could make sure the message got back to the Empress.”

I sighed in relief. “That is good news.” I stayed silent, debating a while longer. To stay meant eventual slaughter, but I could not allow myself to leave, knowing that the men here had been abandoned and left here to die without honor or

dignity.

“What do you want to do?” Shinji asked me at last.

“We are going to get these men out of here.”

***

Nearly an hour later, we had finished placing the rest of the barricades which faced the city and then the east side of the camp as well. The west side was nothing but thick woods and forest, and it would be unlikely that the squadrons of men would come that way. Nevertheless, we still set up a few just in case. While we worked on the barricades, a few other men went to assist the doctor to prepare everyone to move. It would be slow going, and I was not sure if we had enough men to carry all the stretchers, but Shinji found the horses that Uchida had left here with the remaining samurai.

“There are only seven of them, but it’s better than nothing.”

We connected all seven horses to carry stretchers made out of bamboo and thin paper material. We made them large enough to carry two or three men on each one. Since the horses were strong and resilient, we also would allow those who were able, to ride on the horses’ backs. That only left a few men who were unable to move at all without help.

The ones that could not be moved, the doctor said, had asked for assistance to

commit seppuku. Shinji and a few of the other samurai assisted in helping them regain their honor.

They had never lost it to begin with; they had only been the victims of poor decisions and cowardice, but at least they died honorable deaths, worthy of recognition. Though I knew this, inside, I was still angry about the whole situation.

It was sunset before the gates of the city opened. Shinji and I stood at the front barricade, along with the other healthy samurai, to hold the squadrons off as long as possible to provide the other men more time to escape.

When the gates opened, it was not what we had been expecting.

Shinji cursed loudly beside me; his hand clenched around his katana so tightly his knuckles were white. What we saw coming out of the city gates, was not a couple squadrons like we had expected.

It was the entire army.

Chapter Forty

MEGUMI

I covered my mouth, whether out of shock or horror, or both, I did not know. I screamed. A smaller part, the rational part of me that could still think, knew it was foolish to do so, that her killer could hear and come for me next, but the bigger part of me that was so filled with shock did not listen to rationality.

“What is—?”

Asano was the one who had heard me, and he rushed into the room, katana out, prepared for danger. His eyes found me and then found Chiaki on the floor and finally realization dawned on him. “Empress Sakamoto… are you harmed?”

I shook my head mutely.

“What happened here?”

“I came to wake her for tea and rice cakes, but when I entered, she was…” My whispering voice trailed off, unable to say anything farther.

Asano knelt down beside Chiaki, feeling her pulse, and then he placed a hand at the blood around her. “Whoever did this is long gone… She’s been dead for a few hours.”

I swallowed deeply.

Asano turned to meet my gaze with a dark one of his own. “Do you have any idea who would have done this?” he demanded.

“She came to me earlier….” Immediately after speaking I clamped my mouth shut, staring at Asano in horror. One of the men she had seen had been Toshi, she had said… but she did not know who the other man was.

Should I tell Asano what she warned me of? I wondered.

Did Chiaki know Asano at all? Would she have recognized him?

Would he have betrayed me as well?

“Empress Sakamoto?”

“Rysouke… I need Ryosuke.”

Asano nodded. “It is not safe to leave you here alone. I will get two samurai to watch this room and then take you to Ryosuke’s myself.”

I nodded, but remained silent. Trembling, I followed him out into the hall and he slid the shoji closed behind me. Two samurai, who sprinted down the hall, saw us and stopped, asking what was going on.

Asano told them to watch the room and make sure no one entered until he returned. They nodded and bowed as Asano led me through the halls until we came outside to the dojo grounds.

With how busy Ryosuke always was, I realized then that his office had also become his room, where he slept as well.

“General Kurosawa,” Asano called.

“Come in,” Ryosuke’s deep voice called from the other side.

Asano opened the shoji enough for me to step inside. He politely closed it behind me as he left.

Ryosuke was already awake and at work. He turned and when he saw me, his eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing would come.

He stood up, as if understanding that something was really wrong and stepped toward me. “What happened?”

I swallowed and forced my voice to work. “Chiaki came to warn me of betrayal. I ignored it and decided to worry about it in the morning. I woke up from a nightmare and went to her room to enjoy tea and rice cakes with her, but when I got to her room, she… she’s dead...”

Ryosuke’s expression darkened. “Who did she warn you about?”

“She saw Toshi talking with another man she said she did not recognize. They discussed warning the Iwashita in Tojoshi that our samurai were coming, so that they could drive our samurai back.” Tears threatened to spill over, but I blinked them back. “If I had only heeded her warning, she…”

“This is not your fault, Megumi,” Ryosuke murmured. “But we must act on this information immediately. More than likely Toshi was the one who killed her. Either he overheard her speaking with you, or he realized she saw him. Either way, he could attempt to come after you next, or try to flee the city, and we cannot let him get away with this. There is no telling how long he has been a spy for the Iwashita.”

“How should we deal with this?” I murmured.

Instead of replying, Ryosuke went to the shoji and slid it open. “Asano,” he called. Within seconds the older man was inside the room, sliding the shoji closed behind him.

“The information I am about to inform you of is extremely confidential,” Ryosuke started.

Asano nodded, listening intently.

Ryosuke informed Asano of everything that had happened. “It is not a coincidence that after she discovered Toshi’s betrayal, she ends up dead by morning,” he finished.

Asano nodded in agreement, his expression somber. “I had suspected there was a spy and was close to discovering who it was when I realized I was being followed. I had planned to bring it up to you, Empress Sakamoto, and Ryosuke as well, but I decided it was best to wait until I was sure they had stopped following me. I never once suspected Toshi!”

Ryosuke nodded. “As a messenger and a member of the watchmen he has had endless amounts of information as well as the opportunities to relay wrong messages and give out information to the Iwashita clan.”

I gasped, as realization struck me. “It was Toshi who told me that there was a spy in the council in the first place, nearly two years ago!”

“It was even Toshi who informed us that Tezuka spoke to his advisor about the story you told him… I would even go as far to say that Tezuka was never even guilty in the first place,” Ryosuke added.

Asano muttered a curse under his breath.

Ryosuke met Asano’s gaze. “Asano, we need this taken care of silently, without word of this getting out, especially to the council. The less anyone else knows the better. Will you take care of him?”

Asano nodded. “Gladly. I will get as much information out of him as I can before I cut him down.”

Ryosuke glanced at me, waiting for approval.

I nodded, meeting Asano’s gaze. “Do what you must.”

After that, Ryosuke tried to convince me to sleep. I knew that after everything that had happened, I would not feel like going back to sleep. He sent one of his most trusted samurai, a woman, to stay and protect me at all times. He stayed with me as long as he was able, but he had other matters to attend to.

***

Hours later, after a council meeting, Asano stayed behind to inform Ryosuke and I of what had happened.

“Toshi was not too difficult to find. I confronted him, cutting him to prevent him from running and using a weapon. All the information I could get out of him was that he served as Tatsuya’s eyes and ears here in the capital. Tatsuya supposedly works under Emperor Iwashita, and has many other spies and assassins working throughout the Sakamoto borders. He also has samurai who are still loyal to him. Toshi mostly relayed messages and important information, such as when we sent reinforcements to Tanazaki. He did the same for Tojoshi. He never knew the name of the man he would relay the information to, just that he was Tatsuya’s second-in-command.”

I frowned and narrowed my eyes. “Even after two years and killing my parents, my cousin is still trying to wreak havoc within my clan.”

Asano nodded. “Yes, he is. And until we can find his second-in-command, along with the other spies within the capital, no information is safe, and no one can be trusted.”

“If even Toshi is capable of this… there is no telling who else Tatsuya has working for him.” I sighed, attempting to keep the weariness and exhaustion from my tone.

“The only way to know the names of all who work for him would be to find who his second-in-command is,” Ryosuke said.

Asano nodded in agreement. “When Tatsuya was a commander here, all the

of his squadron were arrested and tried. Many were executed, but some were left to rot in prison. His second-in-command at that time was Oka Eiji.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “The name sounds vaguely familiar. Was he executed?”

Ryosuke shrugged. “We will have to check the records to find out.”

I nodded, glancing at Asano.

As if he knew just what I was about to ask, he bowed low. “Leave that to me, Empress Sakamoto.”

“What we should focus on right now is Tojoshi. If Toshi has already relayed the news of our samurai marching to help the city, then by now the Iwashita have had time to prepare and counter our attack. It is safe to assume our samurai will need reinforcements,” Ryosuke said, his voice stern.

Asano nodded, but frowned. “It was Toshi who even informed us that the Yamada and Iwashita samurai laid siege to Tojoshi in the first place! It is also safe to assume that information was false.”

“To what extent? Did he simply tell us that so that we would send out samurai to a city that had not been under siege at all, perhaps to get us to focus on something else while they attack elsewhere? Or was the information true? What if they have already taken the city and we ordered our samurai into a trap?” I

asked.

Ryosuke and Asano both wore the same grim looks on their expressions.

“I think it would be best if you gave the order for Asano and his men to investigate the situation first, like we originally thought. Rushing in with more samurai could only provide more unnecessary deaths. Until we know the extent of the situation in Tojoshi, leave all our samurai here, to be free to move wherever they are needed.” Ryosuke met my gaze as he spoke.

I nodded, agreeing with him, but narrowed my eyes, deep in thought. “Would it be wise to make a decision like that without consulting the council? The generals are watching me closely, and if they found out I gave an order to send out more samurai, even a few, without their consent…”

Asano creased eyebrows, rubbing his chin, also deep in thought. “That is the extent of my job as a watchman, Empress; to complete my tasks in secret so that my missions are not ruined by anyone’s outside knowledge of it.”

“If Asano will go to Tojoshi, then I will take the task of checking the records so that we can find out what happened to Oka.” Ryosuke’s eyes held mine.

I nodded. “Very well, then. You have your tasks and both are of the upmost importance.”

Asano informed us that the less samurai he took with him, even amongst his own

men, the better. It was decided he would leave one of his most trusted here in the capital, should Ryosuke or I need him, and then take his other most trusted with him to Tojoshi.

I could only hope that he made it there in time before something horrible happened.

Chapter Forty-One

AKARI

One of the other samurai glanced at Shinji and I. “You must hurry and tell the others. This army will be coming for them next! Go!”

I hesitated. “But you—“

“We will hold them off as long as we can. Any samurai here, injured or not, will do what is necessary. Now, go!”

Shinji met my eyes and nodded, pulling me along with him. We would have to run since all the horses were already being used. I followed closely behind him and sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me. We continued through the camp until we reached the trees to the south. Once we hit the trees, we continued onward.

“Commander Uchida took the main road… We can catch them if we cut through the woods.” I did not bother to stop running as I spoke.

Shinji nodded and continued pulling me through the trees.

It felt like hours before we found the army, though the rational part of me knew it was probably only half an hour or a little more. They had made camp to rest the men and the horses in a small clearing in the middle of the woods.

Shinji and I ran through the camp until we found the commander’s tent. We burst inside, demanding to speak with Uchida.

He glared at us as we entered, as if angry we interrupted his meal. “I heard you were hurt, Okada. Good to see you’re back on your feet.”

“There is no time. An army of Iwashita and Yamada samurai are marching out of Tojoshi as we speak,” I said firmly.

Uchida did not look the least bit concerned. “What concern of that is mine? Those men that were forced to stay behind are dying men anyway. It is their time to die.”

Shinji’s fists clenched and his muscles were tense.

I took a step forward, yelling at him. “If they wanted to only wipe out the men left at the camp, they could easily do that with two squadrons, maybe three. What marches toward the camp now is the entire army that was used to overtake Tojoshi. They will not stop with the injured men. They will follow us until they find us and we will be slaughtered!”

“Who are you to yell at your commander?” Uchida demanded, glaring at me.

I met his gaze with a furious one of my own. “I am Okada Akari, Chief Advisor to Empress Sakamoto herself! You must move camp! Our only chance is if we can retreat faster than their army can move.”

Uchida continued glaring at me, but said nothing.

Shinji made a sound that was between a growl and a grunt. “We were ambushed the minute we stepped foot into the city, and they had all the proper preparations for an attack! We were led into a trap, one that they were ready for. They won’t delay in coming after you; you have to move!”

“My men have walked for miles and are exhausted. What you say is pure speculation, nothing more. How am I supposed to trust the word of a woman and a ronin whose loyalty sways with his mood?”

Shinji started toward him, but I grabbed his arm firmly with my hand, holding him back as I shook my head.

“Any man in your army who is killed is on your head,” Shinji snapped. His voice was like thunder, yet short and clipped. It was as cold as I had ever heard him speak before. He turned his back on Uchida and walked out of the tent.

I followed quickly behind him. “If Uchida will not move the camp, what should we do? We do not even know how many men are coming!”

Shinji remained silent as he stared out into the trees, obviously deep in thought. After about a minute, he slowly replied. “We’ve got to start building as many barricades as we can and tell as many samurai as possible and hope they’ll listen.”

I nodded and we began. About fifty or so samurai agreed to help us. Immediately, we all began sharpening weapons, cutting down wood for logs, and building barricades all around the camp. We set up as many of the riders and spearmen toward the north side of the camp as we could with the time we had.

By the time I stopped to take a drink of water, I was exhausted. Shinji and I had run for miles without a break and had immediately set to work cutting and lifting wood, building barricades and other physical work. I still had not given my wounds time to properly heal, and though my headache had dulled, the pain in my stomach did not.

“You all right?” Shinji’s deep voice lulled me out of my wandering thoughts.

I pursed my lips, but nodded slowly.

He stayed silent, obviously waiting to see if I was going to say anything further. With the battle, it was not the time to tell him. There was a chance that he could lose his focus and I did not want him getting himself killed because he got too distracted.

It was then that I could hear it; the thundering beats of hundreds of footsteps marching. I stood up, glancing through the trees in front of us. The moon was distant, making everything hard to see. Though I could not see them, the army

was close.

I swallowed. “They are here faster than I anticipated.”

Shinji’s lips were set in a firm line. “There weren’t many fighters back at the other camp. It wouldn’t have taken them long.”

“We should let the others know,” I said.

Shinji nodded in agreement and followed close behind me. We informed the samurai on watch, as well as those who were already prepared for battle. I ran back to Uchida’s tent to inform him, but he still did not believe or listen to me.

With anger and frustration, I ran out of his tent, grabbing his second-incommand by the arm and pulled him along behind me. “If your commander will not do his job, then you do it!”

The man seemed surprised, but smiled and nodded. I returned back to where the majority of the men were waiting and found Shinji.

It was about ten minutes later, when I could just barely make out the outline of multiple silhouettes gliding over the ground like shadows. Seconds later, the air was filled a whooshing sound that meant the enemy archers were firing.

“Down!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. Shinji and I ducked underneath a shield large enough for two people—one we would use only for this purpose. Grunts and groans, followed by screams, mixed with thumps as the arrows hit either shields or men. A few of them were fire arrows, which lit several of the tents aflame, as well as several of the samurai, both on foot and on horseback.

The second-in-command called for archers and we returned fire, though I suspected it would do little good, firing into the trees. Both our samurai and the Iwashita and Yamada continued firing arrows back and forth until they finally charged out of the trees toward our line.

Once they attacked, everything was pure chaos. I heard the second-in-command give the order for our horsemen, and could see them plow forward into the line of men. The Iwashita had almost twice the number of horsemen and nearly half of them stayed in their places behind the main line.

The Iwashita spearmen came toward us first, breaking through our first line with ease. Shinji and I charged forward. Dodging a thrust from one of the spearmen, I swiped my katana against the middle of his spear. I pushed it to the side and pressed toward him into his zone where he was powerless. In the same movement, I sliced across his right arm and stabbed into his chest. I ducked from another spear to the first man’s right, pulling out my blade as I did so. Stepping on that man’s spear to drive it downward, I slid in to pierce that man’s chest while he was surprised.

I danced my way through the attacking samurai, creating a harmony between myself and my weapon. We became one as we sang a song of war and battle, using everything I had within me to stay afloat through the constantly churning sea of bodies and blades.

When I heard the command for our men to start pulling back, I worked my way backwards until I reed our line of battle. Seeing a horseman plowing through our men with no resistance, I charged toward him. I used a pile of the enemy dead to leap off of and slammed my katana into his back. As I pushed his body off the horse, I leapt off it as well and landed on another man with my blade in his sternum.

I spun back into the dance of battle, but for every man I cut down, four more took his place. Slowly, our men were pushed further and further back until the second-in-command was forced to order the full retreat.

As our men turned to retreat, we found that another regiment of Yamada samurai had circled around us and blocked our escape. They had us completely surrounded.

There was nowhere left for us to go.

When our samurai realized we were surrounded, most of them panicked. The second-in-command’s voice had been silent for a while, and when I looked to his post, I realized he had been cut down. With no leader giving orders, our men would not be able to keep their formations.

The Iwashita and Yamada samurai cut through our men like they were nothing but paper. Blood covered the ground so thick it was difficult to see the grass anymore. Fire danced around from tent to tent, lighting everything ablaze. Men were shouting battle cries, and others were screaming in horror and agony as they breathed their final breaths. The stench of death and blood was so thick it could have been sliced with a sword.

I felt arms at my back, shoving me forward. “Make for the trees, it’s our only chance to escape,” a deep voice said in my ear. I glanced over to see Shinji urging me and the others around us in the same direction. The few of us who were still living stayed together, fighting side-by-side until we broke through the Iwashita lines just enough to escape into the trees.

More spearmen charged our direction. One of our men was trampled, while another was impaled by a spear that flew from one of the Iwashita men. I darted toward the Iwashita spearman, but he unsheathed a katana in time to block me. He pushed me backward, just as another man came from behind me. I only had time to partially dodge the man from behind, and my right side was cut. I groaned, barely blocking another attack from the spearman. He pressed against my blade, slamming my back up against a tree.

He turned to block an oncoming attack from one of our men. I did not have a chance to see who it was, though. I ducked, barely avoiding another attack from the second man, just as a third one came around. They attacked me at the same instant and I was forced to block one on the right, and twist my body to avoid a hit from the left. Twisting my body as I did forced me away from the tree me and I was sliced from behind across my right shoulder.

I turned to attack him, but Shinji reversed his grip on his katana and cut the man down. That gave me time to kill both of the men originally attacking me. Shinji and I stood back-to-back, completely surrounded, both of us wounded and losing too much blood. Our remaining squad attacked the enemy at once, giving us a chance to escape.

“Come on, we need to move.” With a groan, I held on to Shinji’s waist as he put an arm around my shoulder and together, we ran through the trees, slicing men as we needed to.

It was nearly dawn before the sounds of battle could no longer be heard. We finally stopped, and only because we both collapsed from exhaustion. The minute I landed on the ground I fell unconscious.

***

When I woke, every part of my body throbbed in pain. I glanced over to see that my side and my arm had been bandaged, and I could feel a bandage on my right shoulder.

Shinji was on the ground only a few feet away from where I was. His haori was torn on the sleeves, and I realized he used it to make my bandages. His own kimono was covered in blood, but whether it was his or not, I could not tell. I crawled over to him to see his wounds up close.

He had a deep gash to his chest, one that he hadn’t bandaged up yet, smaller cuts on his face which were not deep and a severe gash on his right leg. Immediately, I set about tearing up my haori to bandage up his chest and his leg. Forcing myself to my feet, I stumbled through the trees until I found a small stream. I drank some water and searched along the stream until I found a few herbs from the bushes on the bank that I could use to help stop the bleeding. I rushed back to Shinji and quickly pressed the herbs on his chest first, and then on his leg. A quick glance at my own wounds told me that they had all stopped bleeding.

I stayed at his side, pressing on the wounds until they both stopped bleeding. It took about an hour and I was worried that he would not wake up for a while due to the blood loss. We needed to move in case the Iwashita or Yamada sent out scouts to search for survivors. I began slowly dragging him closer to the stream, and though it was only a short distance away, I was weak and I did not want to cause Shinji’s wounds to start bleeding again, so it was very slow going. After

about an hour or so, I finally reached the stream and sat down to rest. After a few more minutes, I waded into the stream to catch a few fish, which again was slow going, and not highly successful. I only caught one.

It was too dangerous to start a fire, which would only attract attention, so I was forced to eat the meat raw, and save what was left for Shinji when he awoke.

I lay down beside Shinji and tried to ignore the pain that still churned inside my stomach.

Chapter Forty-Two

MEGUMI

Ryosuke came to me the next evening, informing me that Oka, Tatsuya’s secondin-command, had been one of the handful of samurai who had escaped the city the night my parents had been killed. More than likely, Ryosuke said, he and Tatsuya had escaped together.

Wherever Oka was, it was likely he was still doing Tatsuya’s dirty work. It was also likely that he was the one who had the most with Toshi, although that was only assumed and not proven yet.

It was nearly a week and a half before Akari and Shinji returned. They both wore bloodstained kimonos, and everything about them seemed exhausted and somber. Shinji’s expression appeared cold and uninviting while Akari’s expression was guarded, but through it, I could see a mixture between anger and something else I could not place.

They informed me of the situation at Tojoshi, from Commander Uchida’s poor decision to send them in with only one squad, to the way he refused to listen to reason when they were attacked on the road.

Sasake had made it back before Akari and Shinji and had informed me that he had no information about Matsui or what had happened to him. There were only three other samurai that had managed to escape with him. He did not know the

location of Commander Uchida or the specific numbers of the dead and wounded.

Matsui arrived a day after Akari and Shinji with a severe slash to the middle of his back, but it was not fatal. He informed us all that the Iwashita had captured Uchida, along with thirty of our samurai and had executed them all. Their heads were placed on spikes on top of the walls of Tojoshi.

Despite the mistakes he had made, Akari said, he did not deserve to die like that, or for his body, as well as the bodies of the other samurai, to be shamed and disgraced. The whole city was furious when word spread.

The defeat we faced outside the city of Tojoshi was a heavy loss, both personally and numerically. We simply did not have enough samurai to replace the ones we lost. This battle left us in a dangerous situation.

Akari rested during the first few days after she had returned and spent them with Shinji because he had been quite injured as well. The day after Matsui returned, though, she met with me in private and offered to continue training me. We met up at the grove of trees, both of us working hard to perfect my form, but I could tell that something was wrong. She did not have the same energy she used to, as if something had happened that had taken a lot out of her.

We sat down on a couple rocks to rest and drink water. I glanced at her. “Akari, are you all right?”

She took a sip of water and nodded. “I am doing fine. And you, Megumi?”

I gave her a look that I hope suggested I did not believe her. “I think we are close enough friends that we can be frank with each other. I am concerned about what the loss at Tojoshi did to you and what it will do to our clan.”

She nodded, seeming to ignore the former part of my comment, and chose to answer the latter. “I know we were led into a trap there, but I cannot figure out who or why. And despite that it was a trap, we might have been able to outrun them if Uchida had just listened to us and broke camp.” She frowned.

I nodded. “While you were away it was discovered that the messenger, Toshi, was spying for the Iwashita. It was Toshi who informed us of Iwashita samurai laying siege to Tojoshi in the first place.”

Akari’s eyes widened, but understanding flashed on her expression. “So many things make perfect sense now. I cannot believe that he was…” Her voice trailed off, leading into a frustrated sigh. “Was he working with anyone else?”

“There is no way of telling. I have someone investigating the matter further,” I replied.

Akari nodded.

It was quiet for a few minutes until I decided to speak up. Akari’s expression, though still thoughtful about Toshi’s betrayal, had something deeper underneath. There was something still bothering her other than the spies. “What happened out there, Akari?”

She glanced at me and for a fraction of a second, there was true fear in her eyes. It was gone before I could make anything of it, replaced by a forced calm. She shook her head. “Nothing that would have mattered,” she said, her voice barely above a murmur. She traced a hand over her stomach absently as she spoke.

Almost immediately, I knew. I also knew better than to pry; either way, it was not something she wanted to talk about. She abruptly stood, grabbing her bokuto. “Come on, we should continue a bit longer.”

I stood, keeping mine in my hand as I slid into a stance.

She started first this time and we were back to training once again. It felt good to have even the shadow of a katana in my hand once again. I had been kept from it for so long, and now I felt the same way Akari had explained once before; like it was an extension of my arm. She moved, flowing and graceful, never stopping or pausing for more than a few seconds at a time, even if she was defending herself. She had taught me to rely on my left side more, instead of giving it away that it was my weakest point. It was not, she had said. “Use your disadvantage as an advantage to confuse your opponent.”

Suddenly, she stopped, immediately darting behind a tree, cursing lightly.

“What is it?” I asked, frowning. As I spoke, I also slipped around to hide next to her.

She nodded her head to the pathway we used to come here. At first, I did not see

anything, but then I noticed a spot where the shadows were cast on the ground different than they normally were. It was not an animal.

Someone was watching us.

We remained hidden and stayed as quiet as possible. It was a few minutes later before the shadow slowly drifted away until it was completely gone. Both Akari and I stepped out from our hiding place at the same moment, watching each other. Her confused expression mixed with surprise and worry that, I was sure, mirrored my own.

Before she said or did anything else, she dropped her bokuto, placing her hand on her katana, and took off in a sprint down the trail. I followed behind her, despite that I only had a bokuto, debating whether my presence would help or make the situation worse.

When I caught up with her, she was in the path, katana out, staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed facing Ryosuke, who did not appear to be happy.

I walked up to them raising an eyebrow.

He immediately turned to glare in my direction. “With all due respect, Empress Sakamoto, what do you think you are doing?” he demanded harshly.

I met his eyes with firm authority. “Akari is helping me to train.”

He narrowed his eyes, holding my gaze for only a second longer before his eyes turned to glare at Akari. “You do realize that if she were caught, she would be executed? In doing such a thing you are endangering her life!” He clenched his jaw, his low voice full of anger.

Before she could yell back at him, as I suspected from her furious expression, I stepped forward directly in between them. “I asked her to, Ryosuke. She is risking her life as well as mine.”

He stepped closer toward me, confusion quickly replaced by more anger. “Yes, but serving as your samurai, it is her duty to protect you.”

“Ryos—“

Akari cut off my reply. “No, Megumi, he is right. General Kurosawa, I would like to formally apologize for trying to bring some form of joy into her life, and for actually trying to make her feel as if she can be a swordsman, despite how others see her.”

“She isn’t! She is the Empress now and that is all that she can be!” His voice rose in anger and frustration and his eyes were cold as he glared at Akari. His words were like daggers stabbing right into the center of my chest. I felt as if I could not breathe.

“You do not deserve her if that is all you see her as. But do not concern yourself further, Ryosuke. I will place her physical protection over her internal well-being

from now on.” With those words, she stormed ed him with all the fury and wild rage of a ing hurricane.

Once she had left, I slapped him as hard as I could across his face. He stared at me with an expression mixed of shock and frustration. “How dare you, Kurosawa Ryosuke! How dare you!”

“I am only trying to keep you alive! The generals are looking for any excuse to oust you off the throne, or worse, executed! They are closing in, and any one of their spies could be watching your every move! You are being careless and now is not the time for that! The least little mistake you make could end your life! I am trying to keep you alive!”

I could not think of a single thing to say in response. In a way, I understood why he felt the need to be harsh; the last couple years of taking his father’s place had pushed his nerves to their edge to ensure he did as well as his father. He had become firm and strict, hardly any trace of the carefree and enjoyable man that he had been before. Before, he had always been wise, but his knowledge and wisdom had only increased, as did his strategy and planning. He had become the man he had been forced to, as I had become the Empress I had been forced to. At last, I nodded. “I am sorry, Ryosuke… I only wished to…”

“I know. But that is not who you were meant to be. I know better than anyone that you have what it takes to become a true samurai. But you are Empress Sakamoto…”

I tuned out the rest of what he said. All I could hear as he finished those words was, “But that is not who you were meant to be.”

***

As the sun began to set below the horizon, Asano returned from his investigations. “Is Ryosuke here?”

“I do not know where he is. No doubt he is tending to important tasks.” I kept my tone carefully neutral as I spoke of Ryosuke, trying not to think of the earlier conversation.

“Very well. What I have to tell you cannot wait.” Asano’s expression was difficult to read, but I could tell that he was about to tell me horrible news.

“I know who the other spies inside the capital are.”

Chapter Forty-Three

AKARI

I went to check on Shinji and I desperately tried not to think about all the frustration I had boiling inside of me. As I continued walking back to the palace, I found it harder and harder to keep my thoughts focused on anything else.

Shinji’s leg had been slow to heal, but fortunately we had made it back to the capital without any problems. Sasake and Matsui had both survived the attack, although Matsui had been quite injured. It had been nearly two weeks since Tojoshi, and every day I felt my mood decrease more and more.

During those two weeks, whatever assassins were after me had come again. I was not hurt, fortunately, but I had not been able to catch them. Rumors had begun to spread around the other samurai that I had gotten one of the generals executed, and Matsushima’s men were the worst.

More than once they had confronted me outright, cursing at me, or saying I was not really a samurai, but it never went beyond harsh words. I considered challenging several of them for the insults they gave, but I chose to ignore them instead. In truth, I was tired, deep into my soul, and they were not worth my time.

Shinji, on the other hand, thought they were well worth his time whenever he overheard them. In any case, they never directly bothered me outright again.

On top of the petty rumors, accusations of various crimes, and the three attempts on my life, all because I had been the witness that had gotten Matsushima killed, I had realized the men who had attacked me outside Tojoshi had not been Iwashita samurai. I had spoken with Shinji about it afterwards, trying to figure out why the Iwashita had sent samurai to do patrols outside the city. He told me that they were the same ones who had tried to kill me at the palace before, and who tried again to kill me just a week after we had returned from the battle. More than likely, Shinji said, they had been hoping to kill me before the battle so that my death would have appeared to be a result from it.

My injuries all healed well, and fortunately, with no permanent damage either.

It was not enough time to tell if I really had lost the baby or not, although deep inside I was almost sure that I had. I did not understand why it was causing me to feel so angry all the time, when I had never wanted one in the first place. I had hoped that training Megumi would help distract me, but when Ryosuke had seen us, I knew for her sake he would not say anything, but his anger had only fueled my own.

I slammed open the shoji with enough force to almost tear it.

Shinji glanced up from where he was cleaning his katana. His usual smirk was still there, but it was small, and there was concern in his eyes. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “Ryosuke saw Megumi and I training.”

Shinji raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t fighting with your Empress against the law?”

I rolled my eyes at him, but nodded. “According to our laws, we could both be executed for it, even Megumi herself, but Ryosuke is trying to protect her. He would not say anything.”

“What’s bothering you, then?”

“He just… “ I paused, unable to find the words. After a few seconds, I opened my mouth and almost spoke before I could consider the words I was saying. Shinji… I was with child. I could hear myself saying the words, could almost picture his reaction, trying to find something to say. I could see his expression and could still hear the words beating around in my head, but when I opened my mouth, I could not force the words past the lump that had formed inside my throat.

As if sensing that I was deeply upset, Shinji stood and closed the distance between us. He looked at me with so much love in his eyes that it made my chest ache. I blinked several times and looked away from his face, unable to bear looking at him. Despite that we were both samurai, I still had failed him as a wife.

He enveloped me into his arms and I felt as if I might shatter. I breathed deeply, trying to keep myself together. As if sensing everything about me, he spoke. “You don’t always have to be strong, Akari.” His husky voice was only a gentle murmur.

It was as if everything I had tried so desperately to hold inside had been broken

by those few words. Tears finally fell down and spilled over, just as the emotions I had been keeping inside washed over me like great waves. He held me in more ways than just his arms around my body. It was as if he grieved with me, though for what, I was not sure. My head rested against his chest and I could hear his heart beating quietly in my ear. His steady breathing seemed to relax something inside me, reminding me that he was there with me.

Suddenly, the shoji burst open and samurai spilled in, despite how tiny the room was. I gently pulled away from Shinji, about to ask if there had been some sort of attack, when I saw their hands at their katanas and expressions full of hate and distaste. “Okada Akari, we have been ordered to arrest you for being a traitor to Empress Sakamoto. It would be wise to come with us peacefully.”

“W—what?”

“Under arrest?” Shinji demanded furiously. We met gazes and his expression was full of cold fury unlike anything I had ever seen before. He clenched his hand around his katana.

I shook my head, glancing at the samurai. “Do not. Empress Sakamoto is very important to me. I have been nothing but her friend. If I go with them peacefully, I am sure she will allow me to explain myself.” I glanced at the samurai.

“We are here to arrest Shinji as well and we will keep him from leaving the capital at all costs.”

I glanced at the samurai and then looked at Shinji, my chest filled with horror and dread. They had found him out and there was no doubt in my mind that they

would execute him. I could not allow that to happen, despite how I felt.

Ever so slightly, I flicked my thumb up and slowly drew my right hand closer to my katana. Shinji stepped forward, placing an arm in front of my chest, shaking his head. He looked at the group of samurai, all of them tense and nervous.

“We will come peacefully.”

I glanced at him in confusion, shock, and then anger, wondering what in the world he was thinking. His gaze met mine and in that moment I completely understood.

He was not willing to force me to fight my own people for his sake.

As they escorted us both to the prison, I could only hope and pray that Megumi would give me a chance to explain in order that Shinji could live.

Chapter Forty-Four

MEGUMI

Asano gravely met my gaze as he spoke. “Upon questioning Toshi, he also offered additional information beyond what I was asking of him. He told me that Shinji was really Iwashita Shinji, son of Emperor Iwashita and that he and Okada Akari had met during one of Okada’s missions two years ago.” Hearing Asano’s words, my mind went into complete and utter shock. “He was a dying man, and at the time I did not believe him. Although, it is my job as a watchman to investigate anything that could be a threat to you, Empress, and to this clan as well. So, while I went to Tojoshi to investigate what had happened there, I asked around about Shinji as well. Eventually my inquiry led me to one of the Iwashita Generals in Tojoshi. I was disguised and my true name, rank, and clan were secret. I discovered that what Toshi had said was the truth: that Iwashita Shinji left his father, the Emperor, and his current location was unknown. After the Battle at Tojoshi, I found a witness within Iwashita ranks that confirmed Shinji was at the battle and that he was seen fighting alongside Okada Akari, Chief Advisor to Empress Sakamoto. It is a shock, and a horrible thing to discover someone so close to you is a spy and a traitor, but… it is the truth. I am sorry for not finding this out sooner, Empress. I hope that you can forgive my incompetence.”

“No, not Akari…. She… she is not a traitor.” My voice would barely work.

“But she is, Empress. And what is worse, I have discovered her true beliefs as well. Though it is no longer forbidden in our land, it is still frowned upon. She believes in God and she was married to Iwashita Shinji according to those beliefs almost a year ago.” Though he was trying to help, his words only caused

me more pain.

Akari and Shinji had married. Shinji was the prince of our enemy.

Ryosuke came in and Asano repeated the information for him as well. He was angry, immediately shouting, and demanded that they both be executed at once.

“Executed?” My eyes grew wide and my stomach churned.

“Yes, for their treachery against you!”

“I will not execute her!” I yelled back at him.

“Empress Sakamoto, with all due respect, it is no longer in your hands. You must arrest them both immediately.” Asano’s voice was gentle, but firm.

I could only nod. Ryosuke immediately sent out his samurai to arrest them. It was almost an hour before he returned to report that they both had decided to come peacefully. They were locked inside the prison, separately, to await their sentence.

While they were being arrested, I sent Asano to call together an emergency council meeting. By the time Ryosuke came to report they had been arrested successfully, the council was ready and then the long discussion began.

Once again, Asano reported the situation so that the council could hear exactly what had happened. When Asano finished speaking, everyone began yelling and debating about what to do. The majority of them demanded that they be executed immediately, Ryosuke being one of them, while Asano and General Nomura said that they should at least be given a chance to explain themselves first.

“Explain themselves? Why? So that they can try to deny what we already know?” Ryosuke demanded.

“I concur with High General Kurosawa,” Koike cut in. “These spies have relayed countless details to the Iwashita, and it is no wonder why they have defeated us so easily before. We must execute them for their crimes!”

“We do not know of any specific moments when they gave the Iwashita private information. What you are saying is speculation alone,” I interjected.

Koike glared in my direction.

General Hattori spoke up. “The massacre of Tojoshi was simply that: a massacre and it was because, once again, the Iwashita knew we were coming! It is like the Battle of Tanazaki all over again!”

“And now we know why!” General Nomura added.

It went on and on, so much so that I did not ever think it would come to an end. At last, Koike glanced at me.

“What is your decision, Empress Sakamoto?”

The generals, Asano, Koike, and even Ryosuke all looked at me expectantly, as if their very lives hung in my hands.

In a way, I suppose that was true. “It is the way of a samurai to uphold honor to friend or to foe. My late father, Emperor Sakamoto, believed in honor and loyalty. It is because of him I make this decision now. Iwashita Shinji and Okada Akari will have their chance to speak. Asano and General Kurosawa, please bring them both immediately, but make sure it is separately and do not allow them to see each other before or after.”

Though Ryosuke did not look happy with my decision, he and Asano both nodded and set to work.

***

Shinji stood before the entire council, in chains. His eyes were as cold as ice, but his expression was as deadly as a wildfire.

“Shinji, you are accused of lying about your true identity, of betraying Empress Sakamoto, as well as this entire clan. You are a spy and a traitor. You are Iwashita Shinji, son of Emperor Iwashita, prince and heir of the Iwashita clan,

are you not?” Koike demanded.

Shinji met Koike’s glare of distaste with one of his own. “It’s true that I was born Iwashita Shinji, prince and heir to the Iwashita clan, but I am no longer its prince or heir. They lost my loyalty when they fought without honor. I’ve never spied for anyone or anything before. If I’m a traitor then I’m a traitor to my own clan. I left them two years ago to follow the woman I love. I’ve done nothing but help you and your clan, fight your battles for you while you sit here and do nothing. You’ve done nothing but getting fat while your men are out there fighting and dying for your clan, out there getting slaughtered because of poor decisions and pure stupidity! I fight for no one except to protect Okada Akari. I’m a samurai and I believe in loyalty and honor. I’ve followed your laws and orders without question or complaint. If you want to kill me for who birthed me, then kill me. I don’t fear death. But Akari has served this clan faithfully her entire life. She’s followed the beliefs of her father and his father before him. She is a true samurai, and would do anything for this clan, including die for it.”

Needless to say, the words he said in his defense did not go well with the rest of the council. Ryosuke glared at Shinji as if he was ready to kill him here and now. Though Koike’s eyes were narrowed, his lips upturned into a cruel smile. The generals all shouted out at once, some demanding his execution immediately, while others yelled insults toward him.

Shinji either did not hear them or simply did not care. My guess was probably the latter. Four samurai brought him out of the council room and minutes later, Akari was brought in.

I met her unreadable gaze with a sad one.

“Okada Akari, you have been accused of marrying and working with Iwashita

Shinji, son of Emperor Iwashita of the Iwashita clan. He is our enemy, a traitor, and a spy. You have betrayed Empress Sakamoto as well as this clan. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Koike asked.

Akari’s firm gaze never faltered as she slowly met the eyes of each man in the room without an ounce of nervousness or intimidation. “Shinji left his clan when he realized that they were fighting with guns and cannons, without the true honor of samurai. He fought them and killed his own men for me, to protect me. He made sure I made it home alive. I have fought by his side against the Iwashita samurai, as well as the Yamada, for Empress Sakamoto and for this clan. I have followed the traditions and beliefs of my ancestors and I have never once wavered from them. If you are accusing me of marrying the man that I love more than life itself, then yes, that is true. But neither he nor I have ever betrayed this clan. We have fought and bled for it. We have both lost more than any of you could possibly understand for this clan! I have done nothing wrong, and neither has Shinji. He cannot control who is father is any more than I could. My father was an honorable samurai who served his Emperor and his clan until his dying breath. Shinji’s father is a dark and evil man with no honor or loyalty or any concern except to gain more power. Shinji did not choose that. He chose to stay by my side and follow my clan willingly. That is the only act that we have committed.”

Though there was not as much of an outburst as there had been when Shinji had spoken, the air grew tense enough to weigh upon us all. She was taken back out and another lengthy discussion began.

“They both should be executed as soon as possible!” Koike demanded.

Hattori shook his head. “I believe Okada has served this clan faithfully. It would be shame to put her to death for falling into a deceitful trap. Execute Shinji maybe, but let her live.”

Nomura appeared deep in thought. “I do not believe Shinji has done our clan any crime at all. Strip them both of their samurai rights and rank, and keep him in prison, but allow her to be freed to become a servant.”

Several other generals shook their heads. One, General Goya, who had taken over for Matsushima after his execution, disagreed. “Behead the Iwashita fool, but at the very most, allow her to retain her honor by committing seppuku.”

General Chino, who had taken over for General Taketa after his death, began yelling outrageously. “No! She is no true samurai and therefore does not deserve the honorable death of one! Cut off both their heads and send them to Emperor Iwashita!”

“Neither of them deserve to be executed! What proof do we have of any crime, other than the fact that Shinji is Emperor Iwashita’s son?” I asked, my tone authoritative and commanding.

“I believe your friendship with Okada has clouded your judgment, Empress Sakamoto,” Ryosuke said.

I glared in his direction. “I am only stating what I see as truth.” I kept my voice calm, but still held authority as I spoke to him.

Asano glanced at Ryosuke and then to me. “I do see your point, Empress Sakamoto, having a father is no crime outright, but we are in the middle of war. It is not wise to keep the son of the enemy in your company as a friend or

warrior. These are desperate times where spies and traitors are lurking around every corner and this clan cannot afford to make any more mistakes or foolish decisions.”

“Wise words, Asano. Why not use this as an opportunity against Emperor Iwashita? We have his son in our custody. How often does one manage to capture the enemy’s son? We should take advantage of the opportunity this presents,” Koike said smoothly.

General Nomura said, “You speak wise words, Koike.

General Hattori leaned forward on the table. “Yes, but what are you suggesting, exactly?”

***

It was two weeks before Emperor Iwashita sent back a reply to our message. We had informed him of his son’s capture and demanded that his samurai abandon the city of Tojoshi in exchange for the life of his one and only son and heir.

A new messenger, one of our own citizens who had been coerced due to a threat to his family, came back with our original messenger’s head in a bag as a response.

“Emperor Iwashita says that Shinji is no longer his son, and hasn’t been for a long time. He will never abandon any ground he takes, and he will not stop until

the Sakamoto clan is his,” the man said, stuttering and trembling with fear.

To Chino and Koike’s disagreement, I allowed the man to return to his family in peace. I stood before the council to declare my final decision without hearing more from the rest of them.

Shinji and Akari were both brought into the council chambers. It was the first time they had seen one another since their arrest. Exhaustion and fatigue were evident on both of their expressions. Though Shinji seemed to be in a lot better shape than Akari, time in prison had greatly affected both of them.

“I, Empress Sakamoto, declare that Iwashita Shinji and Okada Akari be banished from Sakamoto borders. They can never return here, on punishment of death. That is my final decision. They will be escorted by an entire squadron of samurai to the borders, led by Asano to oversee that what I have commanded will be done.”

Akari met my gaze with sorrow-filled eyes. She did not cry, and her expression was void of anger. Her look was something I had seen on many faces when looking at me before: pity and disappointment. Seeing that look from her cut deeper than any katana could have.

My Chief Advisor and best friend was escorted out of the council, out of the capital, and out of our clan in chains, like a common prisoner.

Chapter Forty-Five

EMPEROR IWASHITA

It was deliciously alluring, pleasing in the way that it continued to grow and shape inside me. It was everything that light was not: mysteriously serene, yet so calmingly violent. It was a harmonic dance for power and supremacy. It was urgently patient, yet so intolerably unwilling.

It was inside me, as I was inside it. It was me.

And I savored its sweet temptations, craved its power, and enjoyed it for what it was.

Who I was.

I regretted nothing, felt neither guilt nor remorse. I valued no life over my own, had no doubts in my abilities, and felt no hesitation in killing to get what I wanted.

No one, not even my own seed, would be enough to stop me…

To stop the Corrupted I had become.

Part Three

Chapter Forty-Six

MEGUMI

Two years later…

The war with the Iwashita clan continued for two more brutal years. Over time, we lost more strongholds than we could afford to lose. Their samurai killed thousands of our people, destroyed their homes, and set entire cities ablaze.

As the years ed and changed, the seasons changed with them. The boiling heat of the long summer came and went. The leaves began to change colors to brilliant, calming blues and dark, mysterious shades of purple until at last they, too, fell and died, withering away to nothing. The cold winter came, bringing the beautiful snow, washing the whole world in a blanket of white.

And nearly two years after I had banished my best friend, the showers came, until once again it was spring and the cherry blossoms danced upon the breeze once again.

I returned from a council meeting in which we discussed reinforcing the city. The Iwashita and Yamada samurai were getting closer to the capital. It was beginning to look like we would never be able to stop them. With the heavy losses, and knowing that we could not trust the generals, Ryosuke himself left the capital, fighting amongst his men to try to drive the Iwashita back. It was

rare if I ever saw him, and the only time we communicated was when he had enough time to write me a letter directly informing me and me alone of the situation.

Meanwhile, negotiations with the Osaki continued. Emperor Osaki had marched half his army into our land and camped just outside the capital gates as a show of good faith. If we ever came to an agreement and were married, his samurai would fight with mine.

Their presence only made things more tense, however. There were thousands of samurai, all just sitting there, while my samurai went out and fought continuously, and many of them died for their clan. While the Osaki samurai just watched, and did not bother to help at all. There was unrest in the army, and many of them were not happy with the Osaki’s presence, and so near to the capital as well.

Likewise, the generals were getting inpatient. Many of them, and their men as well, saw it all as my fault for not rushing to finish the negotiations, and marry Emperor Osaki so that his samurai would fight for us.

Neither one of us, however, wanted to compromise on land or power. We went back and forth on who would obtain one area, and then disagreed about another, and problems with that would arise, and then we would start all over again. Even the council was divided on which issues they thought I should agree to and which I should not. These days, every council meeting always ended in an argument. It was frustrating, to say the least.

Eventually, negotiations halted altogether because neither I nor Emperor Osaki was willing to compromise and leave our clans for the other. As a result, he pulled his samurai back and began to march back to Osaki borders.

Ryosuke returned a few days after the Osaki samurai had left. It was the first I had seen him in months. He came to a meeting room. I was sure he wanted to inform me of all that had happened since his last letter, but at the moment, I did not care.

I slammed myself against his chest. At first, he froze, every muscle in his body was taut and tense. Then he finally relaxed, and wrapped his arms around me. “Ryosuke,” I murmured.

“Megumi.”

“Osaki has left. Negotiations stopped. I—I do not have to marry him,” I said, though it was between a sob and a sigh of relief.

Instantly, his shoulders sagged, as if a heavy weight had been lifted. His arms around me tightened and he sighed where his head rested against my neck. “If it is wrong that hearing that makes me thrilled, then so be it. You belong to me… as you always have.”

His words brought such joy that hit me all at once it brought tears to my eyes. I blinked them back and looked into his eyes, taking in the confidence and belief he had for me.

“I want you beside me for the rest of our lives. Sickness, war, treason, famine, death… Whatever lies ahead, I want to face those trials with you and you alone, Ryosuke.” As I spoke the words, I could feel in my heart that they were true.

“If there was any way to make you my wife, Megumi, I would see us together right now… for the rest of our lives,” Ryosuke murmured.

“Then I am your wife, here and now. God is the only witness that needs to be here and He is. I am yours and you are mine, now and forever.”

“Forever,” Ryosuke echoed and it was a promise, a solemn vow between two people, two hearts that merged into one. No one was there but us; no one saw or heard our internal commitment, no one but God.

I kissed him, furiously, desperately…It had been so long since I had felt his arms around me. It was like air, something I had needed but had been deprived of. I needed him, as he had needed me. Both of us had tried to do the right thing for many years. We had fallen into the roles that had been forced upon us: Empress and General. So close together and yet so far. We had put aside our personal desires in order to be who we were supposed to be, for our parents and for our clan.

No longer.

Though I felt guilt over what I was about to allow, in my heart, I knew both he and I were already married. He was my strength and security, and I was his faith and devotion. He saw strength in me where everyone else saw weakness and I saw accomplishment in him where he felt only failure. It was how we had always worked; complete opposites, as different as the day was from the night… His fierce, protective loyalty against my driven willpower and authority. We were what the other one needed, placed in each other’s lives by God for a reason.

***

The sun had not yet risen as I stirred from sleep. I glanced down at Ryosuke where he lay on the tatami mat beside me. The moonlight reflected on his skin, making it appear silver. I kissed his forehead gently, enjoying how boyish and peaceful he looked in his sleep. The usual crease between his eyebrows was gone, the stern expression on his face nowhere to be found, and he looked fully relaxed.

It was as if I was torn into two halves. One part of me did not want to leave his side. The other felt wrecked with guilt and regret. I told myself that if we had been able to marry according to our ancestors’ tradition, we would have, but it would have meant our deaths if we did.

We married each other the only way that we were able, with God inside our hearts and souls.

I left the room shortly after.

***

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. I thought we were being careful. It was almost as if we had fallen inside a deep pit that we could not climb back out of.

I was pregnant.

I walked into Ryosuke’s office, ignoring the polite policies and immediately slid the shoji closed it as soon as I entered. Disregarding the tatami mat, instead, I walked to Ryosuke and threw myself into his arms before he realized what was going on.

“I am with child,” I murmured into his chest. For that one moment, I lost all composure and allowed my emotions to show through the façade. I allowed the tears to come. There was no way for me to know whether I was crying out of fear or happiness, or both. I cried for all I had gained, but also for all I had lost.

Ryosuke held me the entire time I cried until the moment I pulled away from him. He wiped away the tears and looked into my eyes with a confidence I could not understand.

“God will see us through this. I know it. He will help us find a way. Do not allow worry to overcome your joy and love for our child.” Ryosuke’s reassuring gaze held mine the entire time he spoke.

I nodded, breathing in deeply, but did not believe his words. There was no way we could keep this a secret. Perhaps no one would figure out that he was the father, and I was going to do everything in my power to keep it that way, but there was no hiding that I was an Empress who was pregnant, against our most sacred traditions and laws.

It was not long before they discovered the truth.

I was not sure who had discovered and relayed the information to the council. But it was just the opportunity the generals had been waiting for.

They sent an entire squadron of Asano’s watchmen to arrest me at night, in secret to avoid any complications. Though I only had one arm, I was chained to the wall of a prison cell like a common criminal, awaiting my sentence. I did not know if they had arrested Ryosuke, or if he had gone with them peacefully.

It reminded me of when I had sent my own best friend there. I had arrested her, forcing her to await the very same sentence I was now facing myself. Perhaps it was what deserved. I did not get a chance to explain myself or my situation, although, there was not much I could say.

I was brought before the council the next morning. Ryosuke had been brought in as well. His hands were chained behind him, as were his feet, and he briefly met my gaze as I was escorted in. My feet were all that was chained and I had to shuffle more than actually walk. Relief flickered in his expression, which was immediately replaced by reassurance.

“Kurosawa Ryosuke and Sakamoto Megumi, you have both been charged with treason. As Empress, you knew the laws, and you chose to disobey them. Kurosawa Ryosuke, you knew of the laws taught to you by your own father, and you as well chose to disobey and disregard them. Here then is your sentence: for your treason, you both will be executed when the sun rises tomorrow. You will not have the option to rid yourself of your shame and regain your honor by committing seppuku.”

Ryosuke grunted and despite the chains around his wrist and ankles, he began to

fight them. I knew he did not do it for himself, but for me and our child. Samurai came in and, in the chains, he stood no chance against them. They quickly overpowered him and led him out of the room. “Megumi! No! It was not her doing!” His voice faded as they dragged him away.

I was taken away as well, to live my last night inside a prison cell.

Chapter Forty-Seven

RYOSUKE

I hated waiting; the wait before a battle, the wait for news and messages to return, but the wait for the execution of Megumi and our unborn child was the worst I had ever experienced. The knowledge that she was going to be executed for a mistake I had allowed tore my heart to pieces. Death I could accept. Though I was angry that they were not allowing me the chance of dying like a true samurai, as my father had before me, I could still accept death and accept it readily. As the hours ticked away slowly, every minute drawing me closer and closer to my last breath, part of me only wanted my execution to arrive quicker.

Another, deeper part of me, wanted to continue fighting. Megumi did not deserve this and neither did our child that grew in her womb. I would have laid down my life for her any number of times. If she had asked me, I would have taken my own life.

But allowing her to die for a mistake I had made? No. That I could not—would not—do.

They were fools if they thought I would simply give in and allow them to kill my wife and our child.

***

I had no real way of telling the time or how much of it ed that night. So, when the prison cell doors opened, I expected a squadron of samurai to enter and escort me to my death.

The man I saw in front of me, however, was not who I had been expecting.

He was not a samurai. That much was clear. His features were unlike anything I had ever seen before. The man was obviously a foreigner, not one of the clans, and someone who had never been in our land before. It was hard to imagine that what I was seeing was even real, much less that what I was seeing was a person who had been trying to find me.

“I am Radon. There is no time for explanations now, but I am here to free you.” The man had an air of charisma about him, as if he drew others in. In his eyes, I saw no deceit or arrogance, only truth and confidence. He wore a sword at his right hip, which meant he was obviously a warrior—but it was not a katana, far from it. His eyes were naturally narrow, but they were bright gray in color. His hair was the brightest shade of white I had ever seen. Like mine, he kept his tied back. I could not tell what age he was, but he had the wisdom of someone much older, though he appeared about my age. When he spoke, he spoke our language, and very well for a foreigner.

“To free me? What are you talking about?” I demanded.

As he replied, he took out his sword, raising it toward me.

I did not move or say anything as he brought it down. Except it did not land where I had expected. It landed on the chains and somehow, he was able to break them free. Even if he had strength beyond normal capability, breaking the chains with any sword should have been impossible.

He did the same for my feet, but despite how confused I was, I did not argue or question him. My priority was Megumi.

He handed me a katana. “You prefer to fight with this, do you not?”

I nodded, taking the hilt firmly in my grip.

He led me out into the hallway. “You are looking for Empress Megumi, I understand. They have her kept somewhere else, and it is nearly dawn. We will not get to her prison cell in time; we must make for the execution field instead.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. It was nearly dawn? Without waiting for him, I took off running down the familiar maze of hallways, seeing many of the samurai I was all-too familiar with lying on the ground throughout the prison. Radon must have cut them down on his way in to help me escape. I did not know if they were dead or alive, and I did not take the time to find out.

By the time Radon and I made it out of the prison and back into the main grounds, the sun was just barely peaking over the horizon. The dark purple sky was slowly being washed in flecks of pink and orange. I continued running and, fortunately, it was not far to the execution grounds.

That was when I saw her, being escorted by six samurai, two in front, two on either side of her and two behind her. She stood tall and proud, her typical commanding expression still on her face, her chin held high. Her single arm gently rested on her stomach, but she did not appear weak. There was strength inside her, strength that compelled her to face even death with a calm and confident expression. Her long dark hair hung around her, for the first time unpinned and undone. Her stomach was slightly rounded, evidence of the life that grew inside her.

There was a crowd gathered, too many people to try to break through. I sprinted as fast as I could, but there was just too many. Even as I began shoving and elbowing them out of the way, I was still too slow.

The samurai pushed her onto her knees and forced her to kneel. One put his hand on her back and shoved her head closer to the ground. Another raised a katana, ready to strike.

Suddenly, she was gone faster than my eyes could follow. The samurai who had been behind her was on the ground, as well as the one with his katana. The crowd gasped and began murmuring and talking loudly.

Radon, who I had assumed was somewhere behind me, walked up to the exact place where Megumi had been only seconds before. “Would you allow the execution of your own Empress? She has protected you and the lives of your families faithfully for many years, doing everything in her power to drive back the Iwashita clan and protect you, her people! The council’s attempt at having her executed has failed and from now on, I and my companions will serve to protect her life.”

Despite the people I had brutally shoved out of the way, I was still standing

toward the back of the massive crowd. Megumi seemed to come out of thin air right into my arms. I held her tightly, and shifted so that she was behind me, away from everyone else. Radon was still at the front, but another man had come up and was standing in front of me.

Megumi turned to look at the man as I lowered myself into a defensive stance. As I clenched my katana tightly, glaring at him, I studied everything about him. He was well-built, around my age or a little younger and the way he held himself was the stance of a warrior, but one who never fought on the defensive side. His eyes were the first thing I noticed, though—they appeared to be either red or gold, but I could not quite tell the color because they were faded, completely covered over with a gray tint, so bright it was almost white. It was then that I realized he was blind. There were scars over his eyes, as if he had been burned.

“Ryosuke, it is all right. He was the one who saved me.” Megumi’s gentle, yet authoritative voice helped me to relax.

I nodded my head and bowed to him, although I knew he could not see me, I wanted to show him the respect he deserved. “Thank you very much for saving her.”

At first, he frowned. “Don’t mention it.” Although he only spoke the common tongue, rather than our own, he appeared to have understood what I said just fine. The stranger’s voice was rough, and his accent was very different from any of the clans I was familiar with. I frowned.

“We should return to the palace,” Megumi said. I nodded and gently pushed her in front of me, away from the crowd and the other samurai.

There were a few samurai still loyal to the generals who resisted, but the blind stranger would disappear and the samurai would all be knocked unconscious on the ground. Most of the generals, however, were smart and pulled their samurai back out of the palace, away from us.

Asano stood in the middle of a hallway, blocking our way.

The blind stranger started to move, but Radon grabbed his arm, making him wait. My grip tightened on my katana. I had looked up to Asano for as long as I could , but if it came to protecting Megumi, I would cut him down if I had to.

“I am not here to fight you. I disagreed with the council’s decision to have you both executed. My loyalty has always been with you and the Sakamoto clan.” There was no anger or hatred in Asano’s eyes as he met Megumi’s gaze and then my own.

“He speaks the truth,” a voice said. When I turned, I realized it was Radon.

I nodded, relaxing. Megumi led us to the main meeting room, where I slid the shoji closed. Asano stood in front of the shoji, watching it for other samurai.

I just then realized there was a third person with Radon and the stranger. It was a young woman, barely Megumi’s age with shoulder length black hair that hung around her face. She wore the same light armor as the stranger, and she had a sword at her hip and several daggers in her belt.

“Now, who are you and why are you here? Why did you rescue us?” My voice was clipped and gruff. I was in no mood to mess around.

The girl appeared confused, as if she did not understand my words. When she spoke, she used the common language, and fortunately, I could understand it and speak it as well, thanks to my family’s beliefs. I repeated my questions, this time in common.

The girl glanced at Radon and the blind stranger, and realizing the blind man was not going to speak up, stepped forward. “I’m Averella and this is Jared.” She sucked in a deep breath. “This is going to sound insane, but we’ve traveled with Radon from a completely different realm in order to find someone, and we’re here to help you both the best we can.”

I frowned. Before I could say anything, or draw my katana, Megumi stepped forward with all the confidence of an Empress. All attention was on her as she slowly looked at each of the three strangers and spoke the common tongue perfectly. “Averella and Jared, it is nice to meet you, as well as Radon. We appreciate your help, but why should we trust you?”

The woman, Averella, glanced at Radon, as if hoping he would speak up.

Radon met Megumi’s eyes. “Would you have a map of this world?”

Surprise briefly flickered on her features before she nodded. “Yes, in the library, where we keep the scrolls of our history.”

“Will you take us there?”

I frowned, flicking my left thumb so that my katana just barely slid out of its sheath. “Why?”

“All will be explained there.”

***

Megumi slid open the shoji and we all entered the library. It was a large room filled with rows upon rows of shelves. Each shelf held dozens of scrolls. There were candles on the low-tables which lit the entire space. The woman, Averella, looked around the room in awe.

“I’m confused. Why is all the furniture so low to the ground?” she commented, glancing at the table and then from Megumi to me.

As a point, Megumi searched through various scrolls until she found the one she wanted and then gracefully knelt on the tatami mat in front of the table.

“No chairs. Right.” Averella raised a single eyebrow, but walked over and sat across from Megumi. She stayed close to the blind stranger, Jared, and kept glancing at him, as if she was afraid he would disappear.

I glanced at him, but for being blind, he obviously had no trouble getting around. He did not ask or need Averella or Radon’s help even once.

As soon as we were all seated around the table, Megumi turned the map around so Radon could see it. I sat beside Megumi, with the three strangers across from us.

Radon looked at the map and studied it for a few seconds, before looking up at Megumi. “This here is where we are? The capital of the Sakamoto clan?”

Megumi nodded. “Yes. What does this have to do with anything?”

“There is something I must show you. There is a shrine nearby….” He paused, glancing back at the map. “… here. It is not too far outside the capital city.”

“She is not leaving the capital! We have enough trouble arising here with the council, and the whole Iwashita army is out there, conquering town after town, slowly making their way here! I am her High General and her protection is my top priority.” I glared at Radon, daring him to protest.

He seemed to understand my reluctance to let Megumi out of my sight because he said nothing further.

“Perhaps I could accompany you?” Asano asked Radon.

I glanced at Megumi. Whatever the stranger had to show us it was important enough to trust only myself or Megumi with it. I would not allow her to go, and if it was a trap, I was not going to allow Asano to fall into it.

“I will go,” I said, unwavering and unblinking.

She hesitated. “Ryosuke…”

“I will see what it is the stranger wishes to show us and relay the information to you upon my return.” I met her eyes, hoping she could see the truth in mine.

At last, she nodded. “Very well. But to ensure your return, one of your companions must stay here, Radon.” She gazed at the strangers, not glaring, but with a commanding authority no one dared question.

“I will,” Jared shot out just as Averella opened up her mouth to speak. She glared at him, and though he could not see it, she did not seem to care.

“Jared are you su—“

“Yeah.” he snapped, but there was a lightheartedness to his tone when he spoke to her that he did not have when he had spoken before.

She nodded, frowning. “Okay.”

I glanced at Megumi, but I did not say anything. No words were needed. My gaze shifted to her stomach and I could not hide my smile. She was alive and she was safe.

They both were.

I was reluctant to leave her, especially with the council and the generals trying to see her executed, but I had to be the one to go.

“Don’t worry; she’ll be safe with me,” Jared said, as if he knew exactly what I had been thinking. After all, he was the one who saved her from being executed.

I looked at Asano.

He nodded in understanding. “On your father’s honor as a samurai, and on mine as well, I will guard her with my life.” He slid his katana halfway out of its sheath and as I came closer to him, I did the same until our blades clashed, as a symbol of our oath. I bowed lightly to him as Radon, Averella, and I left.

Chapter Forty-Eight

MEGUMI

Waiting for Ryosuke and the two strangers to return was agony. We had just barely escaped death’s door… only to be forced to trust foreigners of the like Ryosuke nor I had ever seen before. My mind thought back to a conversation with Akari years ago that mentioned a stranger unlike any she had ever seen before, one with powers not of our world. She had said the stranger had made some sort of a deal with the Iwashita clan.

As I realized that the one she mentioned might very well be one of these strangers, I did not change my expression or breathing. Though the one that sat in front of me appeared blind, he still did not seem to miss much.

“We’re not your enemies, you know.” His voice was rough and deep, with an edge to it that was at odds with his calm expression. Though he and the woman, Averella, only spoke the common language, which I had not spoken in years, he had an accent that was unfamiliar. Radon, fortunately, spoke our language, though I did not understand how he had ever come to learn it.

“My own cousin betrayed my family; I have had trusted messengers and generals, as well as my own best friend, betray me for our enemy. My own council of advisors ordered my execution. It is difficult to know who to trust.”

He shrugged, nonchalantly, but answered. “It’s natural for you to mistrust people

after being betrayed. We just dropped in out of nowhere. It’s understandable not to trust us right now.”

I nodded, and then realized he could not see me. “Yes, it is.” A silence grew in the room, one that, even for me, was uncomfortable. I did not want to ask him about his blindness, and I was unsure if the subject would offend him or not. “There have been…. Rumors that our enemy has been working with a foreigner… someone we have never seen before. Coincidently, you just happen to be just that… a foreigner. If you are here to help us, you must know a little about the situation?” I phrased it like a question.

Jared sighed and it sounded more exhausted than he looked. “Honestly, no. I know a little, but it’s still new to me too. I do know that the foreigner you heard of, the one working with your enemy is...bad news. I’ve only seen one other person like him and it didn’t end well.” His jaw clenched, as if the memory brought him anger or even discomfort. His tone suggested he was not going to say any more about it.

I faintly ed Akari had mentioned that the stranger she encountered was powerful. “The way you said it, ‘like him.’ What do you mean? This foreigner is… different?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. Radon can explain everything better than I could.”

I nodded and left the conversation as it was.

***

The next few hours were filled with agonized waiting before the shoji finally slid open, and Ryosuke, Radon, and Averella walked in the room. The shoji closed behind them and Asano returned to his spot guarding it.

I looked over Ryosuke to ensure that he was not injured. He appeared unharmed, as did the other two. I did not miss that Averella looked at Jared in the same way I was sure I was looking at Ryosuke; desperately, full of concern and worry.

“Where did he take you? What did he show you?” I asked Ryosuke.

He blinked, as if he did not have the words to say. Mutely, he handed me a scroll. “It is a scroll of our history. You should read it out loud. I have not looked at it yet. Radon says it will explain everything, as well as what I saw.”

“And what did you see?” I asked him.

He gestured to the scroll. “Read it first.”

I glanced down at the scroll and began to read.

“It was a time of peace in our world. We flourished. We had a system, and though some thought it was a system that did not work, others believed in it and their ancestors had fought for it with their lives. Warriors who held the title of samurai wore a wakazashi and a katana at their hips, serving daimyo as their

masters. Some samurai served the shogunate directly, and all followed the Emperor. There came a time of strife when the shogunate and the Emperor fought for control of the land. The many different clans eventually were forced into the war as well, some choosing to side with the rebel faction, but most loyally following the shogunate. When the odds changed and the rebels, in fact, became the loyal servants of the Emperor, then the very people who served the shogunate became the rebels. Having his own life at stake, the Shogun fled to Edo across the sea, abandoning the samurai who had served him faithfully for years. That was the turning point in the war. A few of the samurai fled to Edo and continued to try to push the enemy clans back. Both sides lost hundreds, if not thousands of brave men.

As the Boshin War continued, the west became more modernized, and our country was left behind. As the feudal period ended and the Meiji Restoration began, the few surviving samurai sought refuge in a place where they could continue living by the ways of their ancestors, which were coming to an end.

A stranger who was a foreigner, though a samurai, protected the surviving samurai who remained and he gave them safe age to an island just outside the Okinawa prefecture. On that island, they were safe from the new Meiji government. Once there, the stranger placed a barrier around the island, so that no ship would ever sail to it, and no person would be able to see through it. No one would ever know of its existence. But he warned them that if they ever left the island and traveled through the barrier, it would begin to weaken and die out over time.

The people there called the island Hogo no basho meaning “place of protection.” As the years continued, the generations grew more and more restless. Hundreds of years after their arrival, they built a ship, and a selected few left to go back to their country to see how it had changed. They promised they would return, and they did. Although they visited their old home frequently, the people on the island still lived by the old ways. They continued their visits back to their country to buy and expand what they already had on Hogo no

basho, ignoring the warning that had been taught to them since birth. The more they crossed through the barrier, the weaker it became. However, despite their long visits, they refused to become modernized with the rest of the world. There were families who believed that it was not right to leave Hogo no basho and disagreed with what the others were doing. It split the island into two different beliefs; those that followed the Iwashita family and left the island on visits, and those that followed the Sakamoto and believed in never leaving. The stronger and larger families were elected as leaders among the people, thus forming the first of the clans. Each clan set its own leaders and servants. They grew until Hogo no basho was becoming too over populated.

The stranger had left with them one more way of escape should they need it— one that he entrusted its protection to his closest friends at the time. Sakamoto Yoshikazu and Iwashita Tatsuo. They ed the secret onto their families, to the eldest son of each generation.

The island’s overpopulation became a dire problem in the Earth year of 1933. The leader of the Sakamoto clan decided and agreed with the leader of the Iwashita clan to share the secret with the rest of the island. It should be said, that though the Iwashita believed leaving the island on visits was not a bad thing, leaving the island permanently was. Those that visited the outside world saw how it continued to change and knew that their beliefs and ways of life would not be accepted.

So, they shared the secret of a temple their ancestors had named Yama ni seichi or “sacred place on the mountain.” Inside the temple was the secret the stranger had left with them, as well as how he had left their world many years ago— through a portal. The Iwashita and Sakamoto families had traveled through it many times throughout the different generations (it was a tradition when a father told his son the secret, they would travel through the portal together). The whole island agreed—after demonstrating it for several of the important clans’ families —that they would use the portal.

People from each clan were selected to travel through the portal to this other, uninhabited, yet livable world and establish a place to live there. Over time, they build cities in the new world. Until, years later, there was an abundance of people in both places.

Life on Hogo no busho continued until the Earth year 2016 when word spread that powerful creatures from another world began to take over in the west.

Humans stood no chance against them.

Upon returning from a visit to their ancestors’ country and informing the people of what he saw, the Iwashita were able to convince the people of the island to leave to the new world. It was decided.

A member of the Sakamoto clan chose to stay behind in order that the portal on Hogo no busho be destroyed. One more trip to their ancestors’ country was needed. An Iwashita clan member left and returned within a week, with explosives, a modernized weapon they all agreed would be useful to them for this purpose only. After the people got through the portal, many liked to believe that the Sakamoto man who had stayed behind had successfully blown it up, but there was no way of ever knowing. A temple in the new world was built around the portal and it was heavily guarded until the temple was complete.

Because the people had been living in the new world already, they were able to adapt to it well. The biggest families, who acted as clans in Hogo no busho, were each given charge over a piece of land and the world was divided among them. The other families chose which clan to live in and follow. Over the years, they established empires within each clan, building up armies, trading resources,

constructing more roads and buildings. Though this new world had alien plants, creatures, and resources, when combined with the resources from the old, it made this new world much like the old country they had all come from. Though they still followed the ways of their ancestors, they adapted to this new and strange world—using the world’s foreign, yet useful resources as a better replacement for what they had lost.”

When I was done reading it out loud for everyone to hear, I rolled the scroll back up, open-mouthed, at once at a loss for what to say. I looked at Ryosuke, finally able to gather my composure. “What is it that you saw that proves this outrageous story?”

“He took me to the shrine that has all but been forgotten over the years. I saw that—that thing they called a portal.” Ryosuke, always sure of what to say or do, for once stuttered, completely unsure of how to explain what he had seen.

It was difficult to believe, but I trusted Ryosuke with my life. He would not lie to me.

Averella chuckled. “That’s about the same reaction I had when Radon first came to us. Well, maybe a little later than that.” She added the last part as a mutter, and glanced at Jared as she said it.

“That is how you came here?” I looked from Jared to Radon until finally my eyes landed on hers.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

I frowned. “So, you come from this… Earth? I—I thought the scroll said the other portal was destroyed?”

It was Radon who spoke up, then. “Portals travel directly from one world to another and sometimes they travel to more than one realm. Their world is a few realms away from this one, but we took a portal from mine straight to this one.”

Though I did not quite understand much of what he said, I nodded.

“And to answer your question, no, we aren’t from Earth.” Averella smiled warmly. “So, what now? Where can we find this enemy clan so we can find the Corrupted—“

Jared interrupted her. “They don’t need to know about that yet.”

I frowned, and Ryosuke tensed beside me. “Know about what?” he demanded before I had a chance to speak up.

“I realize this is quite a lot of information for you to take in all at once. Perhaps we should save some things for another day?” Radon asked gently. “Right now, we should focus on returning you back to power. I highly doubt those trying to overthrow you will take what happened here today lightly.”

I nodded. His words held truth in them.

We needed to stop the generals before they created a civil war within our own clan.

Chapter Forty-Nine

RYOSUKE

Megumi and I, along with Asano and the three strangers, discussed which of the of the council were worthy of trust. Asano informed us that the entire council had voted for our execution, with the one exception being Koike, who suggested it would be wiser to banish Megumi and execute me.

“It would probably be best if you replaced all the in the council. Koike wished that you would live, and if it were me, I would grant him that same mercy, or at least the honor of committing seppuku,” Asano suggested.

I said nothing, deep in thought as Megumi nodded.

Averella looked confused. “Um, what’s sepa—sep—a—coo?”

Megumi smiled. “It is what you would say... honorable suicide?” Megumi glanced at me, hoping she got the correct term for the common language. Only a few of us knew the common language and had learned it because of our teachings and beliefs. The only Bible I had ever read was ed down through generations. It was written in the common language, which was why Megumi and I, along with Asano and Okada all knew it.

“Um… honorable suicide?” Averella asked in surprise.

Jared raised an eyebrow, though his eyes stared out into space, seeing nothing.

Radon glanced at her. “It is a custom of their people that should a warrior lose in battle or dishonor his clan, if he followed bushido—the way of the warrior—or if the Emperor or Empress thought that he was deserving of it, the warrior would be given the honor of committing seppuku. By slicing open his own stomach, showing no signs of pain, the warrior shows himself a true warrior until the very end, regaining his honor and the honor of his family.”

Averella’s eyes widened and her face was nothing short of horrified. “That’s— uh…”

Even Jared appeared shocked, but then he nodded. “Interesting custom.”

Averella glanced at him, more in surprise than anything else, and frowned

Megumi glanced down, deep in thought. “I will decide Koike’s fate later. Right now, we must focus on the generals.” It was decided that each of us would target a general as soon as nightfall hit, as quickly and quietly as possible. Though many of the citizens would not be concerned with political affairs, Megumi still thought it would be best if this was done as secretive as possible.

“General Goya focuses on brute strength in his fighting technique,” I said, “and it would be best if you cut him down, Asano. In the case it would turn into a

fight, you would be evenly matched.” I glanced at Megumi for approval.

She nodded.

Asano bowed. “I will complete my mission successfully, Empress Sakamoto.”

“I know General Hattori’s technique consists of open fights. He fights with a spear and keeps his opponents at a distance. If he was attacked in stealth, close up…” I started.

“It is best that I be the one to deal with him,” Radon said.

Averella’s expression was a mixture of surprise and concern.

“Even I can sense your discomfort from here, Av. What is it?” Jared asked her, eyes trained straight ahead of him.

She swallowed deeply. “Do we really need to kill these men? They are still men and even though they tried to kill you, they could have thought they were doing what they needed to for their country.”

Jared’s lips turned into a thin line, but he did not reply.

I narrowed my eyes. Averella had obviously never killed a man before, and if she was too soft to do so, why was she here? She would only hinder us.

Radon was the one to speak up. “I believe in trying to save a person no matter the cost. But I have seen the hearts of men, and there are some in the world, Averella, that have their hearts set on evil ways. Their hearts and minds cannot be changed and will not be turned from their current course. I have seen the thoughts and intentions of these men. Their hearts are only filled with greed and power. Darkness has already set root in them. It has not grown, but it will only be time before it does. The Iwashita clan is not the only ones who are slowly being Corrupted. It will only be a matter of time before darkness devours this entire world unless we stop it.”

Averella glanced down, but nodded.

Jared also had a look on his face, one that I could only compare to a grimace, but he said nothing.

“Darkness?” Megumi asked. “What do you mean?”

“There is a darkness spreading over all the realms, turning people into Corrupted versions of the dark creatures they serve. They may not know who they serve, but they choose their path willingly. The Corrupted are not being brainwashed or compelled. The Iwashita Emperor is one who has long ago been Corrupted. The darkness has completely transformed him into a powerful Corrupted and he has reached his greatest strength. It has also filled most of his men, as well as many of the Iwashita people, and it is spreading to the other clans. The ones that betrayed you, Empress Megumi, including your own cousin, have had the dark Corruption forming inside them as well. It is the path of evil they have chosen and now walk upon. That is our mission. We must do everything in our power to

stop this darkness from Corrupting this world and all its people.”

Radon’s words surprised everyone, except for Averella and Jared, who, apparently, had heard them before. Megumi and I were both at a loss for words. At last, she composed herself. “Then we must increase our efforts to defeat the Iwashita and first, cut down the generals.”

It was decided that Jared would be the one to target General Chino, because of Chino’s technique with a mixture of speed and power attacks. I would be the one to cut down General Nomura. My father trained him personally and I knew his technique almost better than my own. If it came down to a fight, I was confident my skill was greater, despite that we were matched in speed and strength.

After hearing from Radon and Jared that Koike had been deceiving her, Megumi decided that he would need to be killed as well. We all agreed that Averella would be the best fit against him, since he was not a samurai and, though he could fight, he had no real technique—according to Jared, similar to Averella. She did not seem to be too pleased about that, but she eventually gave in.

Once Asano and the three foreigners headed toward the shoji, I turned to Megumi, speaking in our original language. “What is wrong, Megumi?”

She frowned, and glanced at the ground before meeting my eyes. “I am giving an order to have my entire council killed. What kind of Empress does that make me? And where does that leave me once this is over?”

“It makes you a wise Empress who does what is necessary to live, in order that you may protect your people. You have many loyal samurai who would willingly

fill the empty seats at the council. And now you have these foreigners who have helped us and will continue to until the Iwashita clan is defeated.”

She nodded and continued looking into my eyes with determination. There was worry underlying the determination, but it was quickly gone, replaced by the mask I had grown accustomed to. “Be careful.”

I nodded.

Minutes later, Asano, Jared, Averella, Radon, and I all split up in search of the men we were prepared to kill. I decided to check the dojo grounds first. More than likely, if Nomura was concerned about Megumi and her retaliation against him, he would have retreated there to gather up his samurai. He had at least five hundred samurai under his command. If he gathered them all and if they chose to follow him rather than their Empress, I would have a more difficult time reaching him.

Under normal circumstances, Asano and I would give the men the chance to draw their katanas and fight against us, letting them die with honor with a sword in their hands, rather than sneak around like cowards, but we knew Megumi’s life, as well as her throne and the fate of the people, rested in this. If the generals were allowed to live, they would overthrow Megumi and then the people would be left with a clan thrown into chaos, led by greedy men who had no honor and did not care about the people themselves.

“General Kurosawa,” one of the samurai watching the dojo gate acknowledged. They both bowed. “We are sorry but no one is allowed in or out of the dojo grounds.”

“Under whose authority?” I demanded.

“General Nomura’s,” the second samurai responded.

I frowned, narrowing my eyes. “Who does General Nomura answer to?”

“You, General Kurosawa, but he specifically told us not even—“

“General Nomura and I both answer directly to Empress Sakamoto. She issued no such order and you will let me in or I will cut you both down where you stand.” My voice was loud and harsh.

They exchanged a glance, but then, as if deciding that they would rather have Nomura as an enemy instead of me, stepped out of my way. As I entered through the grounds, I could see samurai all over the place, though none were training. They were all watching everything carefully, alert and ready. The air was thick with tension. I gently flicked my left thumb underneath the hilt of my katana, in case I would need it.

Several yards ahead and to my right, the shoji to my office was completely torn off, and my items were scattered everywhere. I cursed loudly at whoever had done such a thing, and continued through the dojo. Nomura would have holed himself up at the most secluded place, which meant some of the offices toward the back building.

I quickly made my way there, and fortunately, no samurai stopped me. Once

there, I slid open the shoji, slamming it against the wall with nearly enough force to break the frame.

Two samurai stepped forward.

“Stay out of my way or you both will die without reason,” I muttered with a growl.

One of them moved out of the way, while the other one pressed his lips together. “I am sorry, High General Kurosawa, I cannot disobey my general and go against my loyalty.”

I nodded as the man drew his katana. I respected his will to follow his beliefs. “Very well, but expect no mercy from me.”

“If I am to die, I will die as a samurai, General.”

I would not disrespect his honor by holding myself back. Drawing my katana, I immediately slipped into my first attack stance. He shifted himself into a defensive stance to directly counter me. Within seconds, I read him and knew that his technique focused on defending and blocking.

I quickly came in close to him, testing how fast he was by going for a basic strike straight downward toward his forehead. He blocked it with ease, shifting his stance into another defensive one. I drew my right foot backward into my main attacking stance. We took a second to read each other once more, before I

moved again, this time heading straight for his stomach. He blocked it, but his technique was the wrong fit against mine; his was defense and blocking against my single, power-filled attacks. I was able to push his blade against his stomach, using his own weapon against him. Though he was hit with the back of the blade, the blow knocked his breath out and made him stumble backwards. I took the opportunity to strike him once across the chest and then he collapsed, gasping for air and choking on his own blood. I stood over him, inclining my head to him in respect. He stayed true to bushido and had remained loyal to his general to the very end.

“Die well, samurai.” With that, I stabbed my katana into his heart to give him a quick death.

I glanced toward the other samurai who made no move to attack me as I pulled the blade from the dead man, and then jogged down the hallway. The last room on the right was the best place to defend from, so I slid open the shoji.

Nomura stood inside the room, his back facing the door. “I knew it was either going to be you or Asano who came to kill me. I am ready to fight you, and end you, traitor,” he snapped.

I paused and could not figure out why his back was exposed if he knew I was there.

Within seconds, he came toward me and turned all in one movement. His technique was similar to Okada’s. The few times I had ever seen her fight, I had observed her technique. While hers consisted of continuous movements to outmaneuver her opponent, Nomura, on the other hand, added power to his attacks. It would be a test of skill between he and I, because our strength, speed, and power were all evenly matched.

I barely had time to block and read his next movement toward my head. Through the block, I shoved against his blade, but his strength matched my own and he did not waver. He came at me again, and though I could defend him easily, I was not able to get in any strikes of my own. He had made the first attack and that had been my mistake; with his and Okada’s techniques, if you allowed them to begin first, their continuous movements were hard to break through.

It was not until I was able to dodge one of his attacks to my left side and I turned right, twisting my torso as I moved, which ended with me facing his side that I had a chance to strike.

That momentary second of confusion was all the opportunity I needed.

I struck at his side, and though he blocked, now, I was on the offensive. Left and right, I struck at him, attacking high and low, toward his shoulder, his stomach, then his neck. He blocked all my attacks, but he was not able to continue moving as easily.

I had him.

There was only a split-second for me to strike toward his right shoulder, and then I slid myself toward his left side with all the strength and power I could muster. The way that he had blocked my attack did not leave him any time to deflect.

My blade sliced into his flesh on his throat and he made a gurgling sound before collapsing onto the floor.

Flicking the blood off my katana, I sheathed it, and then left the room.

Chapter Fifty

MEGUMI

The days that followed all the generals’ deaths were tense, so that any of us hardly slept. Our lives were under constant threat and none of us were certain if we could still hold the Sakamoto clan together. A troubling fraction of our samurai, who had stayed loyal to the generals, resisted and attempted to kill both me and Ryosuke, but they were eventually cut down. After that, the remaining samurai all re-pledged their loyalty to me.

Though Asano was the commander of the watchmen, I had made him my Chief Advisor after Akari had been banished. Radon seemed to be a wise and trustful man, and I decided to make him secondary advisor after Koike’s death. Nishimura Sanjirou had proven his loyalty after choosing to stay with us as a sign of good faith, and I decided to make him another advisor, as well as my main negotiator. Ikeda, the negotiator who had replaced Tezuka had remained with the Osaki clan after they had left our borders and had not returned. I assumed he had decided to stay with their clan when the negotiations had fallen through.

Matsui had been loyal for years and had never disobeyed an order once given. His injuries had healed long ago and he proved to be a worthy samurai. I appointed him as a General in Hattori’s place. I also asked Sasake, as well, if he would take over the leadership of Chino’s men. At first, he refused, wishing to remain a regular samurai with the other men. However, Chino’s men had changed generals twice now and needed someone they could trust as leader, a fellow samurai who had been a follower like them. After thinking about it, he finally decided and agreed. Though Ryosuke was High General, he took control

over Goya’s men, because they were the largest force. The strangers stayed to help, but because only Radon knew a little of our warfare and the other two did not know anything about our culture or ways of life, I could not appoint them to a commanding position. They would fight and help, nothing more.

Asano’s son, Kenta, I decided, was trustworthy enough to take over General Nomura’s position, for all his years serving as a watchman beneath his father.

Those were the of the newly formed council: Ryouske and myself, along with Asano, Matsui, Sasake, Kenta, and Radon.

Because Radon spoke our language fluently, he was able to the council on important matters and discussions. The other two foreigners, Jared and Averella, were not able to understand the complicated words used during a council meeting. Radon, Ryosuke, or I would fill them in later, when it was needed.

As the weeks continued, so did the war. Slowly, the Iwashita began pushing us back. Though we regained some strongholds, the conflict was never ending and we did not seem to keep them at bay for long. The Iwashita samurai themselves were becoming better swordsmen. They were all faster and stronger, and learning their techniques more quickly. Even the new recruits were becoming better than they should have.

Radon explained to us that the more their hearts filled with this… Corruption, the more power it gave them.

“How does this power work?” I asked him. “Does it make everyone filled with it stronger and faster than normal?”

Averella smiled. “I actually asked him the same thing when he first told us. But no, apparently, it’s different for every person.” She glanced at Radon, as if waiting for him to confirm her words.

He nodded in agreement with her. “As you first become Corrupted, it focuses on your dominant mindset. Since the ones being Corrupted are all samurai, they have the mindset of a samurai, and therefore the power they are given associate with that mentality. They become better warriors, their skills with a sword sharpen, they learn faster, their strikes become stronger, they are able to block more efficiently, and they move just a little quicker than before. They are powerful, but the darkness has only just begun to take root in them within the past several years, so they are not as skilled as one would be if already fully Corrupted.”

“Such as Emperor Iwashita?” I kept my voice carefully calm, only curious, though deep inside my chest I was filled with dread. If the Emperor was turning into one of these dark creatures, if he was fully Corrupted, then it could be likely that his son was as well…

My thoughts drifted to Akari, but I quickly focused on Radon as he responded.

“Yes, Emperor Iwashita has had the darkness inside him for decades, and therefore he is already fully Corrupted. He will be powerful, especially after years of developing his skills with the powers he gained.”

I nodded solemnly.

***

It was nearly two months after Radon, Jared, and Averella had arrived, when we heard word that the Osaki clan had ed forces with the Yamada and Iwashita and were marching to them on their way to take the capital. There were only a handful of strongholds left between us and them. The three clans greatly outnumbered our own.

It was only a matter of time.

I was forced to send everyone except for the samurai necessary to protect the capital, to reinforce a major stronghold along the main road, which was the last free stronghold standing between the capital and the Iwashita army. The Osaki were marching from the west and if the Iwashita broke through the last stronghold, the Osaki would more than likely arrive days after the Iwashita began their siege.

I sent Ryosuke, along with Radon and Jared to those in the front lines. Averella protested and I gave her permission to go with them, but Radon asked her to stay here to protect me.

I was not rude to her, but I did not wish to become close with her either. She reminded me a lot of Akari, the best friend I once had who had betrayed me. In my heart, I did not have room to trust anyone else. So, I continued on as normal, and did not rely on her or inform her of anything. Since Ryosuke was gone, I did not rely on anyone.

Asano stayed as well, along with Sanjirou, and they both assisted with

reinforcing the capital’s walls and preparing the needed defenses. Sasake, along with the nine hundred and fifty one samurai under his command, also stayed within the capital city to defend it should it be attacked. Ryosuke, commanding thirteen hundred samurai, Matsui commanding seven hundred and sixty-three samurai, and Kenta, commanding five hundred and forty-two samurai, all went to reinforce the stronghold.

The assault to it was brutal, lasting three long and treacherous weeks. There were almost a thousand samurai inside the stronghold to protect it, along with all the citizens inside the city, and the rest of the samurai outside the stronghold itself on the battlefield. The Iwashita army pushed against our men until the Osaki army surprisingly came around from the east side of the stronghold and began assaulting it. In the end, the battle on the field was lost, but despite the casualties on both sides, the Iwashita, Yamada, and Osaki were not able to break through the walls.

Radon, Jared, and, most of all, Ryosuke all managed to survive. Averella held the same look of relief that I felt inside my chest when we heard the news. Likewise, it was quickly replaced with worry and fear the minute we discovered that the Osaki sent in more of their samurai as reinforcements to attack the stronghold again.

Our spies discovered that the Iwashita army was inspired by this, and needed more of his troops. He called in some of his samurai who were scattered throughout his own land, to add to the second assault.

Sanjirou discovered that the samurai Emperor Iwashita decided to send as reinforcements were the four regiments that were blockading the that trapped the Nishimura inside their own borders.

“Why would he make a mistake like this?” I asked Sanjirou, doubting the spy’s information.

Averella frowned. “Maybe he forgot.”

Although the statement was so simple, and at first, I thought, naïve, when I thought about it deeper, it actually made sense. Emperor Iwashita had not focused or thought about the Nishimura clan since before the war began. He could have been so focused on the war itself that he forgot why his samurai were there.

Though this provided an opportunity for the Nishimura clan to come with reinforcements, it also meant that our samurai inside the last stronghold would be facing another assault, and soon. They were more than likely exhausted, with resources depleted after having been under attack for weeks, with the remains of the Iwashita, Yamada, and Osaki samurai trapping them inside.

If more reinforcements came, they would lose the stronghold.

Chapter Fifty-One

RYOSUKE

The weeks after the strangers’ arrival were filled with nothing but fighting and war, blood and death. Our samurai successfully held the stronghold, but we lost the battle on the field and the few that survived were forced to retreat back inside the walls. Sasake and Kenta’s regiments were nearly completely wiped out, but they both managed to live. Out of Matsui’s regiment, only half survived, and out of that half, nearly a fourth of them were taken prisoner by the Iwashita, and the others committed seppuku in the woods because at their position they were not able to retreat. Matsui’s samurai ensured that he fled to make it back to the stronghold so that he would live.

When we heard the news that the battle was lost, many of us suspected that the stronghold would be taken within a few days, but we managed to hold them back. Both Radon and Jared could hold their own in a fight, and they both were assets, not hindrances. I still did not understand how Jared, a man who was blind, was able to move around on his own without help, let alone wield a sword and fight. He moved faster than my eyes could follow most of the time, he never seemed tired and never seemed to need to rest. I came to respect him as a warrior, despite his weakness. In a way, it reminded me of Megumi and the potential she had as a samurai, before she was forced into a role she never wanted.

After several days, a messenger was able to break through, giving us word that the Osaki samurai had called in reinforcements. Rumors were that the Iwashita heard of this and called in reinforcements as well.

We were about to face another battle, one in which we were hopelessly outnumbered.

We only had a little over a thousand samurai inside the main keep, and inside the city protecting the citizens. The Shogun inside the city was doing the best he could to provide for his people, but many of them were starving. We were not able to bring in any more resources for food, new armor, or weapons. We had to use what little we had, and most of the samurai only ate one meal a day, if that.

Many of the archers and spearmen were getting low on arrows and spears. With another attack, I did not know how long they would last. I met with the Shogun and suggested that he gather all the people to the innermost part of the keep inside the city, where they would be the safest should the city come under attack. Fortunately, the keep itself had two sets of walls. The gate set within the second set of walls was offset with the first—set away which made it difficult for incoming armies to find the second set of gates.

It was not long before the Osaki reinforcements arrived, and immediately the Osaki army continued its siege against our walls. I stood atop the walls near the city’s front gates, ordering the men and fighting Osaki samurai who were climbing ladders. I cut them down faster than they could climb up.

Many times, I was informed of messages from other areas inside the stronghold, and had to pull back so that I could relay messages of my own. I had to be aware of all the samurai movements, where our samurai were, their positions, and formations.

The fighting continued for hours. The Osaki had such a large force of samurai

that they were easily able to replace all their tired men for refreshed ones that came straight from the camp. Whereas we were so scattered and stretched thin inside the stronghold that we were not able to replace or rotate men out, and our samurai were forced to continue fighting through exhaustion, without food or sleep.

It was hours after sunset, when the moon was so far away it made everything difficult to see. We were forced to bring out lanterns in order to provide enough light to see by. It was not too much longer before we realized the Iwashita had been ed by reinforcements. They had gathered a battering ram and, from the looks of it, were preparing to march on the front gate within the hour.

I ordered as many samurai as I could to the front gates. Because of my high rank, I should not have helped them, but I gave in and worked with them to construct the barricade behind the gates. I sprinted back to the top of the wall and assisted the samurai up there, lightning torches on fire for arrows and gathering oil for jars. We did not have much left out of the stronghold’s resources, but we made do with what we had.

One of the Osaki samurai managed to climb over the ladder and onto the wall. I was onto him within seconds, pulling out my katana and striking him in the stomach with enough force he fell off the wall before he had a chance to blink. Two more Osaki samurai jumped onto the wall behind him. One of them attacked me, but I blocked and struck his chest, while ducking from the other attack and pierced my sword into him hard enough to bash him against the wall with a crunch. One of my other samurai stabbed him in the chest. As our eyes met, I nodded at him in approval.

I turned back to the ladder, where another samurai had made it over. Quickly, I cut him down, and continued attacking man after man into the long hours of the night.

Sometime later, though it was still hours away from dawn, the Iwashita reinforcements ed the battle, along with their new battering ram.

I shouted orders to the men at the front gates, preparing them for what lay ahead.

The assaults on the wall increased as the sun rose, until not even I was able to hold them. I had placed Jared and Radon at the front gates so that when the Iwashita were finally able to break through the gates, they were there to try to hold them back.

The walls shook and rattled hard enough to make me stumble as I slowly retreated as the Osaki warriors clambered over the wall. I pushed against them, trying to hold them back for as long as I could.

The gate continued shaking as the samurai below us continued slamming against it again and again, each time brought them one step closer to shattering the gate completely. It would not hold for much longer. Without us on top of the wall where we could continue throwing fire, spears, and arrows on them from above, they would be able to break through the front gates soon.

By the time I reached Jared, Radon, and Matsui’s men at the front gates, the gate itself was cracked and it would only be minutes before it shattered completely.

“The Osaki have gotten over the front walls, we were not able to hold them,” I informed Matsui and Radon quickly, forgetting to speak in the common language for Jared’s sake.

“We have to retreat inside the second wall if we are to have any chance against them when they come through,” Matsui suggested.

I frowned. I hated the idea of retreating and hiding behind the second wall like cowards, but he was right; it was our only chance, so I nodded. “Very well.” I gave the order for our men to retreat into the second wall.

Jared did not seem to have a problem understanding what was going on. I briefly wondered how he knew when he did not speak our language, but at the time I did not care to think on it long. I allowed the other samurai to go first, clenching my teeth at the idea.

Jared glanced in my direction, though his blind eyes did not focus on me. “Don’t be ashamed to live to fight another day. Sometimes you have to understand that you can’t win this time, but you can make sure you won’t be defeated the next time.” His voice was certain and sincere, but there was something in his tone that suggested he knew this from personal experience and from his expression I did not doubt it.

I did not know how he seemed to understand, not only that I was angry, but why I was angry. Though he could not see me, I inclined my head to him in respect. “Thank you.” I was still far from trusting him or his reason for being here, as well as Radon’s and Averella’s, but his words held truth in them and I could at least acknowledge that much.

I glanced around, making sure the other samurai were in retreat. Another one of the samurai who served under me insisted that he follow me to ensure that I was not killed. With a growl, I clenched my teeth, but did not argue.

Once inside the second wall, it was obvious the Iwashita had broken through the main gate. We only had half a dozen jars of fire left, which would not be enough to stop them.

It was at sunset when the assault decreased. The samurai who attacked us all appeared to be Osaki, and then they were even less in number than what I expected after they had managed to break over the front wall.

Where were the Iwashita?

Chapter Fifty-Two

AVERELLA

I seriously thought I was going insane. In all our time together, every once in a while, I’d worry about Jared, but deep inside, I always knew how well he could handle himself.

Until he became blind.

His powers gave him strength and speed beyond human capability, and along with that he could see into people’s mind and thoughts.

But he wasn’t immortal. Like with all the others like him, he had one weakness and for him, it was anytime his eyesight was completely taken away from him. Water would help his wounds heal faster, and it would give him energy if his weakness had been used against him.

The self-sacrificing, arrogant jerk that he was, he did what had been necessary at the time, but it cost him his eyes, and with them, most of his power.

As he recovered from his attempted martyrdom, his powers came back, but they always fluctuated. Sometimes he had them, sometimes he didn’t. At least, with his ability, he could see into a person’s mind, which also meant he could sense

where they were. It worked almost the same way with objects too; once he practiced and honed his skills, he was able to move around on his own, and even fight again.

Ever since he’d become blind, though, I couldn’t stop dwelling on his safety.

Sitting in this strange world, in a place I didn’t understand with people I didn’t know and half the time couldn’t understand either, not knowing where exactly Jared was, or what he was doing, or how he was doing, kept me in a tense state of endless panic.

Then, there was the fact that after so long of being inside Zagerah, I was used to being in a constant state of motion; running, hiding, fighting, being on constant alert, brief meals, lack of sleep, muscles always tense and ready for danger. There had always been a risk at being killed by one of the Hunters at any minute. My body still hadn’t adjusted to the differences. Any time one of the warriors here came near me, I tensed, hands on my weapons, ready to be attacked.

I never was. Instead, I sat around all day, waiting for news and protecting Megumi who, surprisingly, didn’t need to be protected much. Boredom was something I had never known, not until now, and it was the worst form of torture. Not being by Jared’s side, not fighting beside him after months of staying with him, nearly killed me. I wanted to be there with him, to know what was happening, to be a part of it. As much as I hated to it it, fighting had become part of my life the moment I had entered Zagerah.

Here there was no need to run, hide, or fight, and nothing to do but wait.

Megumi herself didn’t seem too bad. It was odd to see a woman in authority. Once her council had been killed and replaced, she seemed to be ired and well respected. That would never have happened back home.

There, the Aretul had ruled us with an iron fist and women were only respected in the sense that they were the ones left behind when the men had been taken to die. Now, I understood how my mother must have felt after my father had been taken; left behind, helpless to save the man she loved, not knowing what had happened to him.

My anxiety over Jared grew day by day until I honestly believed I was going to go insane.

Megumi, the queen, or Empress I guess they preferred to call her, didn’t appear worried at all. She was always calm and collected, sometimes a little demanding. Though my first impression of her was that she was a cruel and harsh person, eventually I came to realize she wasn’t.

Her left arm was completely gone, except for a small stump on her shoulder, which was almost always covered up by a thick robe-like piece of clothing that she wore in thick layers. Apparently, all of the people here wore different versions of the robes, more elegant-like versions for the women, and then a duller version, with some type of pants worn underneath it for the men and warriors.

Megumi even had a “servant girl” bring me one of those outfits to wear, but just looking at it and trying to figure out how to put it on made my head hurt, so I’d politely declined.

I studied as much of their culture as I could, repeating basic phrases of their language. Because I couldn’t speak it, I felt like an outsider, and there was no denying that I really was one. Megumi was always meeting with somebody about something important, and it was rare that I ever found out what was really going on.

It seemed as if everything was an art to them, everything was graceful. In doing something, they put their whole self into it.Anything from practicing swords, to folding paper, to dancing and writing poetry, to pouring tea and something called sake—which I found out was really some form of alcohol— everything was an art.

One thing I had trouble getting used to was their habit of bowing so much. They bowed whenever greeting someone, they bowed whenever saying goodbye or leaving a room, they bowed in respect and sometimes bowed in the middle of conversation with anyone of higher importance. I tried bowing in case it was rude not to, but I couldn’t figure out when or why or how often. Eventually I just decided to incline my head a little whenever I saw or spoke with someone, and whenever I came into a room.

It seemed like forever before word about the battle reached us. When it did, I was in the training grounds, which I had learned was called a dojo, watching the warriors, which they called samurai, practice sword fighting.

A young girl came up to me and bowed. She said my name with a heavy accent, one that was almost musical in the way she spoke. Her words were way too quick for me to pick up on, so she gestured back to the main area of the palace. All I heard out of what she was saying was Empress Sakamoto, which I came to realize was Megumi’s name.

“She wants to see me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

The young girl nodded and extended a hand behind her as if saying, “please this way.”

I nodded and followed her back into the main part of the palace. Without her there, I probably never would have found my way back on my own. It was larger than even the buildings back on Radon’s world, and navigating such massive places was apparently a weakness I never knew I had. Growing up in a hut barely large enough for my mother, brother, and I to sleep in meant I hardly ever had room to roam around, let alone the space to get lost before. This was the first palace I had ever seen before and it was hard to wrap my mind around the idea that something so large could still stay standing.

She slid open the door, which was a lot different than I was used to. They were thin, made out of some type of material I didn’t recognize. I stepped inside and she slid it closed behind me.

“What is it?” I asked Megumi as I walked into the room. I sat on one of their mats that they always seemed to kneel on, with their legs tucked underneath them and their hands on their laps. Sometimes the men would sit cross-legged. I rarely saw a woman sitting cross-legged unless she was a samurai, which was really rare. My legs went numb within seconds of kneeling down, so I always just flopped down and sat cross-legged. Sometimes they would sit with their legs under them for hours. I still didn’t know how they did it. It was beyond my understanding.

“The battle is over. The Iwashita clan has pulled back all their samurai and is in a full retreat. It only took a few hours before the Yamada clan and the Osaki clan stopped the attack, but they are going more slowly on their way back,” Megumi

said. Her accent was slow and steady, but her tone was thick with authority and grace. There was something elegant about everything she did; the way she moved or spoke. I suppose it came with being a queen.

Or, then again, maybe it was just the culture itself. There was a simple elegance in almost everything they did. So much so, it almost made me jealous of it.

“Why would they just randomly pull back their troops like that?” I raised an eyebrow and wracked my brain for any possible answer.

“The Iwashita had kept the Nishimura clan blockaded within their own borders. When the Iwashita called for reinforcements, they released the blockade and did not realize their grave mistake. Sanjirou informed me hours ago that the Nishimura began marching into the Iwashita borders, taking cities and strongholds one after another. They conquered several of them before the Iwashita even knew what was happening. It was a week before Emperor Iwashita realized it and now, he has called his samurai back to reinforce the Iwashita capital.” Her facial expression was still calm and collected, like it usually was, but there was a hint of a smile there too.

“And what are you going to do?”

“We are going to the Nishimura clan and we will attack the Iwashita capital.”

Chapter Fifty-Three

RYOSUKE

It was not long before a messenger informed me of Megumi’s orders that I return to the capital city, along with Jared and Radon and the other generals for an emergency council meeting. Megumi was ordering us to go after the Iwashita with full force, leaving only enough samurai to protect the capital and the stronghold that we had just fought to keep.

We were to the Nishimura and help them in attacking the capital city to finally end this war one way or another. The next morning, all the samurai, along with the generals, Radon, Jared, and I, all began our long journey. We were to take it slow enough to conserve our energy for the battle at the capital, yet fast enough to keep the Iwashita samurai from having much of a lead. It was a long journey, and we only stopped to rest for a few hours of sleep each night. Before long, we caught up with a few of the stragglers, but we quickly cut them all down.

After several days, just as we crossed into the Iwashita border, a squadron of about thirty Yamada samurai was waiting. It was a quick fight, but they fought as hard as they could, despite the numbers against them. In return, we gave them swift deaths. Whether the Iwashita had sent them to slow us down or if the Yamada thought of it themselves, I did not know, nor did I care to know either.

We continued marching on, but we did not take any of the Iwashita cities as Emperor Iwashita would have done. I knew Megumi would have been against

sacking cities with innocent men, women, and children inside. Our orders were very clear: to head to the Iwashita capital.

As we came deeper into Iwashita lands, rumors grew of the Nishimura clan’s presence and how many strongholds they had taken along the way. From what Asano and his spies heard, the Nishimura clan had built up their army to be larger than the Iwashita army, and they nearly doubled the amount of the Yamada samurai. The only clan who could even come close to the Nishimura numbers was the Osaki.

Within two weeks of marching, we had finally reached the outskirts of the Iwashita capital. Asano sent his men to discover the situation.

The Iwashita samurai had arrived almost a week before we did and had already retreated inside the city walls. The Yamada ed them, leaving some with the armies outside the walls. The Osaki clan had a smaller stronghold outside the city, where Emperor Osaki kept his army.

The Nishimura clan attempted to get through the gates, but they were quickly stopped by the Osaki clan from the nearby stronghold. It was clear that they would have to take the stronghold first, before any attempt on the walls could be made. They had begun sieging the Osaki stronghold the day before, but due to the sheer numbers, if it was going to be taken at all, it was going to take time.

Matsui, Sasake, Asano, Radon, Jared, and I all met with the Nishimura Emperor and his generals as well. We informed him that his son, Sanjirou, had made it to our capital alive and had been living there ever since. After that, it was decided that the Nishimura clan would focus on the Osaki inside the stronghold. The Osaki would be distracted and unable to stop us from starting the assault on the city gates.

The next morning, we began just that. Ladders were set up against the walls as samurai poured toward them, while others used the battering ram to try to break through the gates. The Iwashita samurai were different. We had all seen the change in them as the war drew out longer, but this was even more powerful. They lasted longer, their techniques sharper, and their skills were almost completely the same, no matter if it was a new recruit or a high-ranking samurai that was fighting.

After several hours, our men at the battering ram were exhausted, and still were not able to break through the gates. The Iwashita saw the opportunity and took it. Several archers and spearmen fired down on our samurai at the battering ram.

“Get them out of there!” I shouted, but I knew the orders would arrive too late. One managed to deflect an arrow, while another held up a shield. A spear stabbed into the middle of the shield, but he was left unharmed. Another one of our samurai was struck in the chest, while another was hit in the neck.

They slowly began to back away from the wall as quickly as they could while keeping a hold of the battering ram. Another samurai deflected an arrow, while the horse behind him was shot in the chest with a spear, knocking the samurai on top of the horse to the ground. A second horse was shot down, leaving only three men. They weren’t enough to continue carrying the battering ram, so they were forced to leave it behind.

“Push forward toward the walls. We have to defeat their spearmen and archers,” I commanded. My orders were ed on throughout the samurai troops, until at last our samurai pushed forward to the wall.

“General Kurosawa!” A messenger came running toward me where I sat on a horse toward the back of the army, giving out more orders.

“What is it?”

The messenger paused out of breath, but held fear in his eyes. “The Osaki and Yamada clans have called in reinforcements. The Nishimura clan has been forced to halt their siege on the Osaki stronghold outside the city. And the reinforcements will be coming from behind us within the hour.”

I cursed, clenching my jaw tightly. “We cannot fight on two fronts.”

“What are your orders, General?” Asano asked.

He and the messenger both stared at me expectantly. As much as I hated to, I was forced to make the harder decision that would keep more of my men alive. “Have the men pull back and away from the wall and march closer to the battlefield where the Nishimura wait so that we can be ready for the Osaki reinforcements.”

Both Asano and the messenger nodded, bowing in respect before they both ran off to spread the word.

***

It was not long before the Osaki reinforcements arrived. It was just after sundown, and the moon was distant, making the battlefield harder to see, but there was no doubt that the samurai had arrived. Their force was large, and we ed the Nishimura army, who had completely halted their attack on the Osaki stronghold to turn around and face the reinforcements coming from the west, like we did.

The attack was just as long as it was brutal. The stars twinkled overhead, peaceful and tranquil, contrary to the chaos of death below. The sound of shouting and fighting, the metallic clang of katanas striking one another shattered through the silence. The stench of blood and death mixed to form a foul stench that could nearly drive a man to his knees.

Not even an hour into the battle, Osaki samurai from inside their stronghold came around from behind us and ed in the others, nearly surrounding us. They were smart, and were quickly ed by the Yamada samurai reinforcements, who split us off from the Nishimura clan.

We were greatly outnumbered and completely encircled. My horse was hit with a spear, knocking me to the ground. Though the blow knocked my breath out, immediately, I stood, taking my katana in my hands and began striking down samurai left and right.

A spearman drew closer to me, which only made it easier for me to cut him down. As I came around from the killing strike with him, I blocked another sword that had been heading for my exposed back. Disengaging from him, I leapt backward, shifting into an offensive stance, and then came at the man again, striking him in the side. I had just enough time to duck and slide on my knees underneath another blade, then turned and stabbed that man in the back. Tearing my sword out of his flesh with all the power I could muster, I swung around to block another katana. The power I had used in the block sent the man stumbling back until he fell to the ground. I blocked another attack, then jumped

to the right, barely missing a blade toward my right side as I stabbed the first man who had fallen to the ground.

A samurai lunged toward me from my left quicker than I saw and I was forced to twist to the right to avoid him, leaving my katana where it was still embedded into the dead samurai on the ground.

I ducked forward, avoiding a sword swiping for my head and slid left to avoid another one at my right. Grabbing a sword off the ground, I rolled forward, and sliced it across a samurai’s abdomen, then turned to face the other three who were charging toward me.

I darted forward, slicing toward the first man’s side, but quickly shifted my wrist so that I could strike the second man’s side as I went in-between them both. An arrow flew and hit my left side, but I turned and stabbed the third samurai before he could attack me.

I left the arrow where it was just under my ribs to keep from bleeding out. As the archer quickly loaded another arrow, I darted forward, but he had loaded it faster than should have been possible. I dodged that arrow and reached him just as he had grabbed a third one. He used it to try to stab me, but I slipped toward him, striking toward his exposed chest with my blade.

He dodged the attack easily, grabbing a wakazashi from his belt. Dancing around me, he tried to strike me multiple times. I managed to dodge all of his attacks, but was unable to get in another attack of my own. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see another man charging toward me from the right. I leapt out of the way, avoiding his katana toward my stomach by only an inch or so.

I grimaced when I felt a sharp pain in my right leg, and looked down to see the first man’s wakazashi in my thigh.

He ripped it out and I grunted, but jumped back to avoid two more attacks. Relentlessly, he attacked again, so quickly that I barely had time to the movement, and the wakazashi managed to cut the side of my face, down the right side of my jaw.

“Get back!” a voice shouted.

Before I could see, Jared was in front of me. He blocked the attacks with ease, but something was off. It was not as easy as it had been when he had been saving Megumi, or even the few times I had seen him fight after that. “I’ll hold them off; you have to retreat with the other men!”

I narrowed my eyes.

“They need their general, so go!”

I pushed the pain in my leg back with a grimace, but realized he was speaking the truth. Losing the High General at this point would not only secure our loss of this battle, but ensure that we would lose the war. I backed up, blocking another attack to my left as I moved, and struck that man across the chest quickly. Within minutes I had reached Asano and a few of the other samurai, who had formed a group, trying to find a way of retreating.

“They have surrounded us on all sides, cutting off all ways of escape,” Asano said.

I cursed loudly.

By that time, Jared returned, with blood on his chest coming from a gaping wound, but he did not appear to be weakened. His eyes, glassy and distant, held a look as if he was in deep concentration, seeing more than any of us could guess at or understand.

The Osaki and Yamada samurai closed in, attacking us fiercer and stronger than they ever had before. We struggled to stay alive, purely on the defensive, unable to best them in any way. A samurai on my left, one I had trained myself, was stabbed and fell to the ground. I cried out in anger and attacked the man who had cut him down, but he blocked my attack and moved in for another one of his own.

I heard the sounds of a struggle nearby but I had no chance to see what was going on. The Osaki samurai struck at me left, and then right. Though I blocked, my body was tiring from the blood loss in my leg and it was getting harder to breathe.

“Look!” someone next to me shouted. I shifted from a block, sliding inwards to the Osaki samurai and drove my blade through the weak point of his armor beneath the shoulder. Asano had been the one who had shouted to me, so I followed his line of vision to see what he was talking about.

On the hills in the distance, samurai charged in our direction, too many to count

and too many for the eye to see. The horizon seemed to swallow them whole.

“More reinforcements?” I asked.

Jared shook his head. “They’re with us.” He grinned, stabbing an Osaki samurai in the neck and then used that samurai’s body so that it was stabbed from an attack that had been meant for Asano.

With that, we all pressed forward toward the Osaki samurai, who were now confused and focused on the strangers who had come to help us. Despite that the Osaki were somehow more powerful, it was not long before they were the ones being overwhelmed and they began retreating into the trees in the distance.

I just had enough time to see that several of the new strangers chased after them, when I fell to my knees and fought to keep my eyes open.

Chapter Fifty-Four

AKARI

Shinji and I led his army of ronin toward the battle. Just in time, it looked like, as the Sakamoto samurai were becoming overwhelmed, and had been completely surrounded by a combination of Yamada and Osaki regiments. It only took a few hours for us to take back the field.

Some of our men gave chase to the retreating samurai, but the majority stayed to help the Sakamoto and Nishimura armies recover. Both sides had suffered too many loses; each side had lost over half their number of samurai. Our ronin quickly ed in helping to carry the wounded back to the camps.

Shinji and I both walked through the battlefield, trying to find any of the generals still living.

It only took us about half an hour or so, and by that time the sun was almost directly above us. Asano was waiting, along with a few other samurai I briefly ed.

I gasped when I recognized a samurai lying on the ground. It was Ryosuke, and judging by the blood pooling around him, he was gravely wounded.

I glanced at Shinji briefly, only to see him smirking. His expression said it all: serves him right.

Almost as if he knew what was I thinking, he frowned, but did not stop me as I dashed to Ryosuke to help him. “He has a deep stab wound to his leg and his side has been hit with an arrow, but I think he should live,” I said, after examining Ryosuke’s wounds.

It took him a minute to react, but finally Asano replied. “We should get him back to camp immediately.”

I nodded and a few of the other samurai came over to help carry him back to camp.

“What are you two doing here?” Asano asked.

“I think that’s a story that should be told to the council. Or as much of the council that’s here,” Shinji said.

It was at that moment that I noticed an unfamiliar face. He was a foreigner. I stood, clenching my right hand around my katana’s hilt tightly, glaring at the foreigner.

The foreigner I was staring at was not the one that had been with Shinji’s father, and they did not look anything alike, but if there was a foreigner around, whatever had taken root inside Shinji’s father was not far behind. As I glared at

the foreigner, I realized that his eyes were glassed over and, though his foreign sword had blood on the blade, he was blind.

“I’m not who you think I am.” His voice was deep and low.

I frowned. “How do you know what I am thinking, foreigner?”

He sighed. “You people don’t take to outsiders well, do you?” Though he had asked the question, he did not pause for an answer. “I’ve encountered the one you came across. He’s the one who aided Emperor Iwashita to help him conquer this world, too.”

I narrowed my eyes, unable to process much of what he was saying.

He sighed. “It’s a conversation for another time and away from prying ears.”

Shinji did not seem as convinced as I. He stepped forward, smirk in place, but there was coldness in his eyes that I recognized as one he saved strictly for those he did not trust. “What exactly do you think you know of my father?” Shinji demanded harshly.

The stranger appeared unfazed by Shinji’s tone, and I was certain if the stranger could see Shinji’s dark look, he still would have been just as unfazed. His blind eyes stared ed Shinji’s face. “I have the answers that you’ve been looking for.”

***

Shinji and I ed the council on tatami mats inside a tent, gathered in a circle amongst faces I recognized, but ones I did not expect.

Asano had told us we would be meeting with all the generals of the council, but the faces I saw were Matsui and Sasake, and Asano’s son, Kenta, whom I had not seen in a long time. The stranger, along with one other I did not recognize, was there as well. The newest stranger had an air of tranquil agelessness, yet his eyes held such wisdom it was hard to imagine that he was as young as he appeared. His hair was the most fascinating thing; it was the brightest shade of white I had ever seen on a human being before.

“I am Radon, and my friend here is Jared. We have been working with Empress Sakamoto and her council for some time now.” The one with white hair had spoken, and he acknowledged the blind one as Jared.

I nodded, but was confused. Had Megumi become so desperate that she had allied herself with foreigners?

As if he could read my mind, Jared snorted.

“Shinji, Akari, please, tell us everything that has happened since we last saw you,” Asano said.

I glanced at Shinji, already knowing that he would force me to do all the talking, and I began to recount the past two years.

After Shinji and I had fled the Sakamoto borders, he took me into the hills of Chatan . I had been confused at the time, but I thought that going into the Osaki clan borders would be smarter than returning to the Iwashita clan borders. On the way there, Shinji explained to me the truth.

When he had been ordered with a squad to chase after the retreating Iwashita samurai during the Battle of Chatan , General Matsushima had ordered the three highest-ranking samurai in the squad to kill Shinji. Once they were in the hills, Shinji and his squad encountered hundreds of ronin just as the ronin were disarming the fleeing Iwashita. When the ronin saw Shinji, their leader challenged him to a fight, rather than all of their men fight and lose more unnecessary lives. Shinji agreed and won. Shinji chose to let the leader live, as long as the man agreed to follow him.

After he and the ronin leader fought, the three assassins tried to kill him. They would have succeeded had the ronin leader not intervened and saved Shinji’s life. Together, they killed the three traitors. The ronin, along with some of the surviving Iwashita samurai, accepted Shinji as their official leader. The Iwashita samurai knew he was the Iwashita prince, and chose to follow behind him until death. He left them in the hills and they promised they would wait until he needed them again.

So, when we fled, the army of ronin had taken us in. We lived with them in the hills, avoiding the strongholds occupied by the Sakamoto samurai. Over the years, we trained and grew in number, until we were just as numerous as the Nishimura or Osaki armies. Some of the samurai in our ranks had served as spies, and continued to obtain and relay information for us.

When we heard word that the Nishimura clan finally had come and that they planned to march to the Iwashita capital, Shinji and I had to be a part of it. Along the way, we heard word that the Osaki had betrayed the Sakamoto and ed the Iwashita. We knew the Sakamoto would need our help, so we hurried into the Iwashita borders and the capital.

When I finished the long story, all the generals could only stare at both of us in silence.

“Without you, we would have all been killed and the Iwashita would have been able to take over all of Empress Sakamoto’s land. We are forever in your debt, especially after the banishment that was forced upon you both,” Asano said, bowing low to the ground.

Shinji shrugged. “Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to save you.”

I nodded in agreement, and then glared at the foreigners. “I have explained what happened with us, now, I think we are also due for an explanation.”

Radon was the one who explained that Shinji’s father had been filled with darkness and was now fully Corrupted, serving dark creatures who were seeking to Corrupt as many worlds as they could. He had been traveling to worlds just like ours, trying to help as many people as he could. There was something in his tone that suggested there was more to it than that, but I kept silent.

“By world, you mean that there is more to our land than we have realized?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

He smiled warmly, but shook his head. “I travel through portals, which are pools of energy that can transport one through the many different realms that exist in our universe.”

Shinji laughed.

I frowned. “What are you trying to say?” I demanded, not believing a word he said.

“It is true,” a voice said.

I glanced up at the entrance to the tent to see Ryosuke. He was limping, and he held his side as he walked, but he was awake.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“General Kurosawa, you should be resting!” Asano shouted.

Ryosuke glared at him, and carefully knelt down on a tatami mat. “I have seen the portal he speaks of for myself. Our ancestors came from another world and they were forced to come here. We would not be working with them if we did not believe them.”

I still frowned.

“Whether you believe me or not does not matter now. What matters is that we must break through the gates and into the city while the Osaki and Yamada are unable to help.” Ryosuke’s tone was strictly business, all about strategy and planning.

Shinji nodded in agreement. “What’s left of the Nishimura clan should attack the Osaki stronghold in order to keep them from routing behind us later. I’ll split my army up, half to help the Nishimura and half to help us attack the city.”

***

It was nearly sunset by the time the men were all prepared and our assault on the city began. Ryosuke stayed back, despite that he hated it, but Asano promised us he would make sure he stayed as far away from the action as possible. Ryosuke was not happy.

Radon and Jared, however, were sent to assist us. Shinji and I ed them along the front wall. We each climbed different ladders all next to each other along the wall, to the right side of the front gates. In my right hand I held a shield which I kept above my head to block spears and arrows thrown from above. Most of the time, though, the samurai on the wall would hurl anything they had nearby, which meant a lot of the time, rocks and stones slammed into the shield, as well as sticks, and other various objects.

It was difficult to climb the ladder and hold the shield while it was being continuously pelted by solid objects from above. I had a newfound appreciation

for the samurai who always had to climb atop the ladders to breach the walls.

When I finally reached the top, I slammed the shield into the first samurai I had with, and then swung it around to strike the neck of a man on the right. With that split-second opening, I leapt over the wall. I had just enough time to use the shield to block an attack on my right.

The force from the katana was so powerful that it completely severed the shield in half. I backed up to dodge another attack, and I realized these men were much more powerful than I ed. I continued the movement, coming out of the dodge and unsheathing my katana. There was no time to spare as the man came at me again. Quickly, I used my blade to block the attack just in time. The power behind his attack caused me to stagger.

Within seconds, he attacked again. This time I ducked beneath him and danced around behind him to slice him across the back. The wound was not fatal, but the power he had used behind his attack sent him stumbling forward. I darted toward him slicing left then right, and then stabbed his back.

Another blade chopped down toward me, so I twisted to the left out of the way. From there, I cut him down, but did not have a chance to see an arrow that flew in my direction. At the last second, I managed to sidestep, but it had never been aiming to kill me.

It flew from the left and sliced through the top of my right hand.

I groaned, biting my lip to keep from screaming and removed my right hand from my katana. Another samurai saw the opportunity and used it to knock my

katana out of my hand and sent it flying several feet away.

He lunged toward me, not pausing for a second. I dodged his attacks, relying heavily on my technique of movement to evade and dodge. The same heaviness in the air that had existed when Shinji and I had been captured in the Iwashita camp radiated off him.

I fought the urge to collapse on the ground and focused on predicting where he was going to move. Now, more than ever, I needed that. Finally, an opportunity arrived and I was quicker than he was. Grabbing his hands, I firmly gripped the hilt of his katana. Using all the power and strength I had, I slammed it against his face, and then stole it. Ducking, I narrowly avoided a strike from behind, and quickly turned as I swung to slice another man in the chest.

It was difficult, but I finally fought my way through a swarm of samurai that were much more powerful than any of us anticipated. By the time I was finished, I glanced around to see that there was no Iwashita left alive on the wall. Several feet away, I could see Shinji. As he met my gaze, I could just barely make out Jared and Radon behind him. Our men swarmed onto the wall, chasing after the Iwashita who were retreating deeper into the city to hold up against us.

Shinji sprinted over to me, frowning at my hand. “How bad?”

I glanced at it, fighting back a wince.

He tore a part of his sleeve off and wrapped it tightly around my hand. “That should keep it from bleeding.”

“Thank you very much.”

He nodded and gestured to a stairway that led underneath the gate. “We need to lift the gate up and chase them deeper into the city.”

I nodded.

When I reached the gate, Radon and Jared had already thought of that and had raised the gates. Our army had already begun swarming through, ing our troops coming over the walls.

We waited for the battering ram. Once it was inside, we followed the second set of walls that wound around in a circle, meant to confuse invaders. At last, we finally came to the second set of gates and they began slamming the battering ram against it.

Jared frowned and did not appear to be happy. “Why would someone make a structure shaped like this? Who puts a maze with three different sets of walls inside?” he demanded.

I could not help but smile. “It is a tactic used in many of the strongholds in our world meant to confuse invaders. It has been used by our people for generations all throughout the clans,” I explained.

He continued frowning, but nodded. “I hate mazes,” he muttered.

For some reason, I became curious as to how he could appear to see the structure clearly, despite the obvious fact that he was blind. I did not see that it was my place to ask him such a question though, and decided not to speak up.

The pinks and oranges of the approaching dawn was beginning to push against the dark blue and purple of the nighttime sky when the second set of gates were broken and we finally stormed through. Some of our samurai had brought ladders and had managed to climb over the second set of walls that way. Our archers and spearmen stood atop the second set of walls and began to shoot down Iwashita men that had been on the third set of walls.

Unfortunately, the third set of walls had been held by the Iwashita samurai the longest and therefore, had been barricaded far stronger than the previous two. Our battering ram nearly shattered trying to slam against it.

“How is this wall so strong?” I demanded with a frown.

Shinji’s muscles instantly became rigid.

“Corruption.” The word was a whisper on Jared’s lips.

Shinji growled. “My father did this, didn’t he?”

It was Radon who responded. “Yes, he did. We must break through so that you can defeat him.”

“How?” I glanced back at the wall, but our battering ram was weakening. Our samurai scaling the tops of the walls had been halted in their place, as if by some invisible force. The air started to feel heavy and I could feel the darkness, just as I had before, when Iwashita and the stranger tried to Corrupt Shinji.

Radon placed his hands upon my shoulders. “You have held your belief in God for many years, Akari, and your faith is strong. Use it.”

I shook my head, furrowing my eyebrows. “What does faith have to do with a siege?”

“Faith can bring down mountains.” Radon smiled and released his hold on me.

Exhaling sharply, I shook my head. I had no idea what to even do. Still, I closed my eyes and focused on God, on His Presence and the things in this world that I found so stunningly beautiful. From the rivers that carried fish to the forests teaming with life and color, to the skies above and the stars at night, showing His Glory.

Shinji gasped and when I opened my eyes, he was gaping at me in utter shock. Looking down, I realized my skin was glowing. White light washed around me and I felt warmer than I ever had before; as if I had stepped into the sun, but did not feel its fire.

“Yes,” Radon urged. “Use it.”

Briefly, I glanced at him, but walked through the samurai gathered around, staring at me with mouths wide in shock and some in fear. They moved the battering ram and I held out my hands toward the gate.

“Samurai!” I called, raising my voice as loud as I could. “The Iwashita have murdered many of our people; your friends and family, your sons and daughters. Now is our chance to defeat them and stop their dark reign from ever returning! With me!” Lowering my voice, I closed my eyes. “For God.”

I exhaled and cried out with a powerful voice, ed by the dozens of samurai with me. The light shot away from me, bright and glistening as a wave of it exploded through the gate. Iwashita samurai fell from the top of it and I could no longer feel the darkness as the walls crumbled down to the ground.

Our samurai cheered in a wild chorus of power and might and praise as they charged through the gates.

The light around me vanished and I sagged as Radon’s hands caught me.

Shinji blinked at me. “What was that, woman?”

Glancing up at Radon, I shook my head. “I—I honestly do not know.”

“Come,” Radon urged. He darted across the collapsed walls with Jared right behind him. Nodding once at Shinji who lightly kissed my forehead, we clenched our katanas and followed the samurai into the city. Our army stormed through it, cutting down any person who resisted.

I did not enjoy the thought of cutting down people who were only defending their city, but Shinji and I had something far more important to do.

We sprinted through the city, ignoring everyone else, and headed straight for the palace. When necessary, we fought our way through, but because Shinji had lived here all his life, he knew a hidden way to sneak inside the walls and into the palace itself. It was as if God was there helping us, because we made it inside unseen.

Shinji and I came out of a room and quickly cut down two samurai who were standing guard. He nodded his head down a hallway and I followed him through the maze of hallways and corridors until we came to a shoji made of bright colors.

I met his eyes and, in that instant, I knew… This was it.

He slid open the shoji, just as I heard Radon and Jared come up behind us. I did not have time to wonder how they had caught up with us so quickly.

What we saw inside was not what we had expected.

It was the stranger, the one who had worked with Emperor Iwashita and he was holding a woman I had never seen before in his arms, a knife at her throat.

Jared tensed suddenly and his body jerked as if he had been punched. “Averella,” he breathed.

“Well, well, Jared, I was hoping you would be here. It is good to see you again.”

“Skull,” Jared hissed and there was malice in his tone unlike anything I had ever heard before.

The stranger, Skull, glanced at Shinji and I. “If you’re looking for your daddy, he’s got a present for you. I’m warning you though, you might want to get some help before you meet him. He’s waiting for you in the place where you first realized you didn’t have a father anymore. Good luck to you both.” His tone was contradictory to the words he used; cold, distant and monotonous all at the same time.

Shinji narrowed his eyes, clenching his katana. I glanced at Jared, who was staring in Skull’s direction with an intensity I had not realized a blind man could have.

Radon met my eyes. “Go. This is Jared’s fight.”

I hesitated, but nodded, pulling Shinji along with me.

Chapter Fifty-Five

RYOSUKE

As our samurai stormed through the Iwashita capital, taking over the city and killing hundreds of samurai along the way, I could not just sit around doing nothing. Despite Asano’s warnings, I entered into the city, watching the chaos that was going on around me. I quickly found Matsui, who was ordering his men inside a building where Iwashita samurai had hidden themselves.

“How far have we gotten into the city?” I asked him.

“It is difficult to say, General Kurosawa.”

I nodded. My mind could not stop thinking about Akari and Shinji, concerned that they would turn on us. “Where is Shinji and Okada?” I demanded.

“Some of my men saw them as they decided to go to the palace after Emperor Iwashita by themselves. Supposedly, they took Radon and Jared with them.”

I cursed. “What are they thinking?” Without waiting for a reply, I sprinted through the winding streets of the city as it was sacked. There were bodies everywhere, covered in blood, men fighting and shouting, shops looted and broken into. There were some various fires, other areas were boarded up.

Everything was complete and utter chaos. In all the mayhem, it was a miracle I found my way to the palace at all. I fought my way inside, wincing as pain settled itself into the wound on my leg. I pushed it back and ran through the palace, trying to find the throne room. It was an agonizingly long process of running through hallways, sliding shojis open and then moving on, but finally, at last, I heard fighting nearby.

There were several samurai attacking Radon. He briefly met my eyes, gesturing to the end of the hall. “Go, I am capable of handling this.”

I nodded and sprinted to the shoji at the end of the hall, which was already open, to see several more people fighting inside. They were moving so quickly my eyes could not see specifically who it was.

On the floor, grabbing her wounded side, was Averella.

I ran to her. “What are you doing here?” If she was here, that would mean that Megumi—

“You have to find the Emperor! He sent this man after us both and he was too powerful and took Megumi and I.”

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. I wanted to reassure her that it was not her fault she and Megumi had been taken, but I could not form the words.

She should never have been left to protect Megumi.

“Where did he go?” I shouted furiously.

“Outside in a courtyard there’s a garden full of cherry blossom trees. He took her there,” she said.

Someone grunted and was thrown against the wall. I had just enough time to notice it was Jared and that he was hurt, but I did not care. All that mattered to me was Megumi.

I sprinted from the room and down the hallway.

Megumi.

I prayed I would get there in time.

Chapter Fifty-Six

MEGUMI

Emperor Iwashita threw me to the ground, as if he was now completely uninterested in me. When the foreigner Emperor Iwashita had first kidnapped Averella and I, deep inside, I believed that the Emperor intended to kill me. When he kept me alive, my confusion only grew. Although, Averella suspected that we were taken because she knew the foreigner.

It was not until Akari and Shinji dashed into the room that I understood.

The gut-wrenching feeling of betrayal settled itself inside my stomach. They had ed him. But when Shinji and his father began shouting at one another, I realized just how wrong I had been. Akari and Shinji had not been living here for the past two years, as I had originally believed.

“What have you allowed inside you, Father?” Shinji demanded. His eyes were cold, narrow slits as he glared at the Emperor, and his tone was defiant. Both his hands and his jaw clenched tightly.

Iwashita laughed. “Being Emperor of one pathetic clan was never enough for me. No matter how many people I cut down, how many people were slaughtered and killed by my own hand, it was never enough. I wanted a war, and I got one.”

Shinji’s hands shook in anger. “All you wanted was to spill more blood.”

Iwashita smiled. “Now, you finally understand. The more I kill, the more the power in me grows. Unfortunately, as powerful as I am now, no man has been able to stand against me, and fights have become rather dull. I doubt even you could last against me, but what do you say? I have wanted to kill you for a long time, boy.”

I did not think it was possible, but the hatred in Shinji’s eyes grew fiercer.

Akari tensed, starting toward Shinji.

Shinji turned and glared at her, freezing her where she stood.

He clenched his fist around his katana and then Iwashita moved with inhumane speed. Dark shadows lingered around where he had been. Shinji was left unable to keep up with him. It had only been a few minutes and already, Shinji was panting hard, and it took everything he had just to block Iwashita successfully. When Iwashita did finally pause in his movements, it was only to taunt Shinji. My eyes were finally able to see Iwashita’s katana, which had become black. There was an underlying orange glow to it, as if looking into a distant fire covered by thick, black smoke.

He charged toward Shinji again and they fought, attacking left and right, from above and around and behind. Their movements became so blurred I could not follow them, and I was unsure how Shinji was able to keep up with or follow his father’s movements.

I stood and caught Akari by the arm just as she was about to their fight. “You cannot see them and intervening will only lead Shinji to his death,” I said gently.

“But he—“

“All we can do is try to prevent Iwashita from killing him. It will take all of us to cut him down.” I met her eyes as I spoke.

She nodded, and then glanced at me. “Your katana…?”

“He took it.” I frowned.

She grabbed her wakazashi from her belt. “It will not be as efficient, but it is better than no weapon at all.”

I nodded, taking it in my hand and slid my feet into a stance as she did the same with her katana in her own hands. Despite that all I held was a wakazashi, it still felt like an extension of my arm, as if it was a part of me. The movements all came back to me.

In the dim moonlight, underneath the cherry blossom trees, Akari and I stood, best friends, as if nothing terrible had ever happened between us.

I shifted my eyes back to the fight.

Iwashita slowed, and I realized it was only because Shinji was tiring. Shinji’s left arm was covered in blood, and his chest had a few slashes on it, as well as a cut on his forehead, which caused blood to cover his right eye. His chest was heaving and sweat poured off him.

Iwashita seemed completely unfazed. He had a deep slash across his chest, one that would have killed a normal man. Right before our eyes, the dark shadows that followed his movements drew around his chest and into the cut. It changed from bright red, to a deep black before it glowed and then the cut vanished all together.

Shinji’s eyes flickered briefly, but it was gone in seconds.

“Foolish boy. There is no way you can win. You should give up now while you still can.” Iwashita sneered at him as he spoke.

Shinji glared at him, shaking his head. With a smirk, he stepped forward into an attack-stance and lunged toward his father, full speed. He came to his father’s right side, but Iwashita flicked his hand and blocked most of Shinji’s attack. Their katanas clashed against each other with a loud clang that made me wince.

Iwashita pushed against Shinji with a strength that was completely inhuman. Shinji flew backwards, slamming against the trunk of a cherry blossom tree with a loud thud.

“Shinji!” Akari shouted, running forward. I did not have any time to stop her as she charged Iwashita with a furious cry. He blocked her attacks with ease, but her continuous movements took him by surprise. It only took him seconds to catch on to her technique, and he did not play around with her as he did with Shinji. He sliced her right arm and kicked her chest as hard as he could, which violently threw her backward. She landed on her stomach a few feet away from me.

I glared at him, running toward him with all the speed I could muster. I sliced at his left side quickly, then around to the back of his neck, to his left shoulder, back around to his ribs, his lower stomach, and back to his neck. Though he blocked some of my attacks, others managed to hit him. They healed as quickly as I could place them however, and with a few more minutes of dancing around him, I tired out faster than Shinji had.

Immediately, Iwashita struck toward my left side, but I turned and had just enough time to block him. He pushed against my wakazashi with enough force to send me backwards. I landed on the ground with my breath knocked out.

Akari, Shinji, and I exchanged a glance. Iwashita turned to face him again as Shinji forced himself to his feet with a wince. He raised his katana to face Iwashita, even though his hands shook and blood poured down his hands and onto his blade. It was as if the only thing holding him upright was a sheer force of will.

“You still choose to fight me, even in your weakened state? You may be a pathetic son, but you have the stubborn heart of a true samurai. It brings me pleasure to kill you,” Iwashita said.

As Shinji distracted him, Akari and I leapt to our feet and came at him as quickly as we both could. I went toward Iwashita’s back, as Akari slid ed his side, slicing it open. Iwashita was surprised at first, but Akari continued her movement, coming around to slice Iwashita’s left shoulder, as I struck again on his right side. Iwashita growled in pain, which gave Shinji the opening he needed to drive his katana deeply through his father’s chest.

Iwashita fell to the ground, his raspy breaths slowly turning into gasps as his dying eyes met the sharp gaze of his son. He coughed, and blood spilled out of his mouth, mixed with a blackness that nearly made me gag.

Shinji collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard and trembling.

Akari dropped her katana and fell to her knees, glancing at me.

“Akari, I should never have banished you. I—“

My sentence was cut off with a loud groan.

I could not process the horrid sight before me.

Chapter Fifty-Seven

JARED

I looked in the direction Skull’s presence was coming from. There was nothing but dark, emotionless waves radiating off him. I tried peering into his mind, peeling away his thoughts one by one, but he blocked me out.

“You trying to anticipate what I’m going to do, Jared? Find out if I plan on killing your girl, maybe?” As he spoke, I could sense him shaking Averella violently.

She grunted and sounded like she was struggling.

With a low growl, I clenched my fists in fury.

I sensed Skull throw her to the ground several yards away from where he stood. She groaned, but her presence was still strong and I could hear her heartbeat. Reassured that she was alive, I turned my attention back toward Skull.

I had to kill him.

Speeding toward him, I was thankful my powers were working because I needed them now more than ever.

Despite how fast I was, Skull was ten times faster. He moved around behind me, and the only thing that helped me was that I could sense where he was moving. If I wasn’t blind, I doubted I could’ve kept up with him.

He took out a sword, but I had enough time to grab my Inquiri blade and block his strike toward the back of my head. I sensed his movements: a thrust toward my chest, which I turned to the left to avoid.

I backed up and darted toward the wall, using it to jump off of. He jumped in the air and met my attack. Skull came at me again, so that his sword sliced my left side as we landed.

I could feel him trying to get inside my head, forcing in images and memories that I didn’t want to see. Closing my mind off, I lunged toward him quicker than before.

He slowed his movements, and I knew in that moment, he wasn’t using his full strength in this fight. Pausing, he leaned against the wall, holding his sword only in his left hand. I stopped and clenched my Inquiri blade tighter with my right hand.

“I must say, I’m a little disappointed, Jared. I thought you might have improved since the last time we fought, but… you’re just as weak now as you were then.”

I gritted my teeth.

“Jared, don’t let him bait you,” Averella murmured.

I could feel she was struggling to stand up, but I still couldn’t sense any emotions from her, which was frustratingly normal. Radon was holding off samurai at the door, but as he turned to look at me, I could see my face in his mind, could see my eyes. They were glassy, and though the red-gold color they once were was still there, it was faint; dulled by the gray of blindness.

“You were too weak to save your father then and I killed him right in front of you. I wonder whose death I’ll make you feel this time?” Skull taunted.

In Radon’s mind, I watched as my glassy, gray-dulled eyes turned from the faint red-gold they once were, to completely coal black. Distantly, I heard Averella’s voice, “Jared…no!”

I ignored her.

With a powerful swing of my Inquiri blade, I lunged at Skull, but he vanished from where he’d been standing. I followed the waves of darkness pulsing from. I blocked as he stabbed at me from behind. Whirling around, I shoved against his sword, flicking my blade across his chest. I kicked the side of his knee and punched his face.

He laughed as he split blood onto the ground. “Better, but not quite there yet.”

Growling, I sliced my blade toward his neck, which he blocked and pressed back. I clenched my hand around the hilt tighter, shoving against his, refusing to move. He slammed his head against mine as I used my left arm to block his sword coming toward my neck. It sliced through flesh and bone, but I shifted my wrist to grab the hilt of his sword and twisted it until I heard a crunch.

The waves of darkness and emptiness radiating from him shifted, though he stayed where he was. They rolled out and away from him, forming into the air inside the room, covering the walls around us in a complete circle.

As he shot his hands out, coils of darkness slammed into my chest. It threw me across the room. My body landed against a pillar which snapped and cracked down the middle.

I grunted and tried to stand, but my body wouldn’t move. There was no time for the pain that flared in every part of my body, so I pushed it back and searched for Skull.

“Jared!” Averella screamed.

Skull laughed. “I’m somewhat impressed, Jared. I would’ve thought that all your time with Radon would have cleansed you by now, but no…Darkness has attached itself to you like a parasite, digging away at you. The seeds of Corruption are still dancing inside your soul.”

I forced myself onto my knees, breathing hard, shaking. My chest tightened and

I thought back to the way my eyes turned black.

All the innocent people I’d slaughtered surged into my mind at once, preventing me from moving or breathing.

“Darkness like that just doesn’t disappear,” Skull whispered. His words chanted inside my mind over and over again, constantly reminding me what I was, what I had been, what I always would be.

“Well, as fun as this has been, I’m going to leave now. But before I do, I have one last present for you.” He smiled and in that one moment, allowed me inside his mind and thoughts.

I saw what he was going to do.

Mentally, he reached out with his Corruption to grab someone who was tethering on the border of doubt and mistrust. He took ahold of their soul, and for the next several seconds, they were in his complete control.

“No!” I leapt to my feet and raced toward him.

By the time I reached him, he was gone.

“Jared, what… What did he mean?” Averella murmured.

Radon looked my direction and felt the same horror I did. “The other room. Now.” His voice was full of urgency, with a hint of sorrow and dread.

I wrenched Averella to her feet as we all rushed as fast as we could.

With my blindness, my ability to sense other people’s feelings had increased, and I felt everything more intensely. That was how I knew, even as we were hundreds of yards away from the courtyard where everyone else was, that we were already too late.

The bitter emptiness of sorrow, horror, and grief rained down on everyone inside the room and slammed into me in full force, forcing my knees out from under me.

No.

“I can’t be here for this.” The words were a plea, but I couldn’t hide the desperation that creeped into my voice.

This was what Skull wanted me to feel; every ounce of everyone else’s pain, every drop of their sorrow, every agonizing, bitter second of death.

Chapter Fifty-Eight

AKARI

I thought it was over.

As Shinji met his father’s lifeless eyes and seemed to sigh with relief that it was all over, and I met the gaze of the Empress who had been my best friend, I thought it was over.

It was far from over.

I heard Shinji groan and looked up to see a katana sticking through his chest. Ryosuke stood behind him, twisting it deeply.

I gasped, but it came out a scream.

“Die well, traitor,” Ryosuke said, right before he ripped the blade out of Shinji’s body.

I sprinted toward Ryosuke, holding my sword in only my left hand, uncaring that my right hand burned in agony, or that it was completely unusable. All I could

see, feel, and think about was the anger that had settled itself inside my stomach.

A hand grabbed my leg, freezing me where I stood. I turned toward Shinji and collapsed beside him. I placed my hands on the wound on his chest, trying to stop the bleeding. “This is nothing, Shinji. You will be fine; you always are. You have come back from worse than this. You—“ I choked off with a sob, blinking furiously at tears that would not stop.

Shinji met my eyes and tried to say something, but he choked and coughed up blood. He grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly and winced, blinking slowly.

“Shinji no—you…” My voice trailed off as more tears spilled over my face.

He was dying and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

As our eyes met, everything we had been through together flashed before me in an unsteady blur: from all those times we fought, first as enemies, then as husband and wife, to the battles where we had fought side-by-side, all the times we had spent together, our wedding and the child that had grown inside me, the child that had become a two-year-old boy that I had left in the care of our friends to watch over him while Shinji and I were away…

Shinji, the love of my life, my husband, was dying.

His eyes held all the conversations we had ever had, the contradiction between he and I, and yet we both had somehow fit together like puzzle pieces. His eyes

held strength and loyalty and honor, belief in God, and yet still held the firm belief that all men must die, and that he would eventually die by the sword. We had both accepted our fate, in much different ways, but yet in the same way.

And then we had married and had a child and everything changed. We were supposed to continue living, stop the war, raise our child together in the hills with the ronin, continue in our samurai ways, but away from the rest of the clans, and away from the war.

When had everything gone so wrong?

“Shinji… please…. You cannot leave me!” I cursed at him. He had always taken pleasure in doing the opposite thing I had always wanted just to anger me. My irritation or anger at him always brought him some sort of amusement.

It was as if he could finally have amusement out of my anger one last time.

I continued shouting at him, cursing at him again. “You are supposed to live and help me raise Keizo!” With that, my voice finally cracked and I sobbed against his chest, unable to contain the sorrow that poured itself through my heart and spread throughout my entire body.

His hands pushed at me until I sat up and met his eyes. The life in them was starting to flicker and fade, but there was a confidence in them. A confidence in death, in his beliefs in God, or of both, I did not know.

He smirked and kept that smirk on his face. “What will I do with you, woman?” he demanded, his voice soft and weak, barely above a whisper. He gasped, choking again as more blood spilled out of the corners of his mouth. The sounds he made after that were sounds that would haunt me for the rest of my life. They were agonizing, inhuman sounds that one only makes in death.

The wind blew his hair gently around his face as his eyes stared blankly overhead. It was as if he was watching the cherry blossoms fall around us, dancing around us like they had when we first met. So beautiful, and yet so oblivious to how short that beauty would last. I hated their beauty and loved it, just as I had first hated Shinji, and grew to love him, as I now hated his death, and loved his life.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

MEGUMI

I was forced to watch as Akari could do nothing to stop her husband from dying. Radon and Jared ran into the room, and through Jared was injured, he moved just fine. Averella was with them, but they all stopped short as they saw the scene before us.

Jared glanced in Ryosuke’s direction.

“He believed that Shinji was against us….” Radon started, almost as if this even had him in shock.

Ryosuke glanced at Radon and then at me, eyes widened.

I blinked, but it did not stop the tears. “He and Akari helped us stop Emperor Iwashita. Without them I would have died. He saved my life. He was not a traitor, Ryosuke.”

Ryosuke stared, as if he did not a word I said.

“Ryosuke?” I asked.

He turned his back on me and left the room. I started after him, but Radon gently caught my arm. “He needs some time. Right now, your friend needs you more.”

I nodded numbly, unsure of what to do that would help the pain she was in.

Jared groaned softly, and buckled.

Averella caught him.

“I can’t be here for this,” he whispered to her and staggered out of the room.

I did not try to understand any of what they had said. I walked over and stood behind Akari, watching the cherry blossoms fall around her and Shinji. I placed my hand on her back and knelt beside her, hugging her as much as I could as she hugged Shinji’s lifeless body, screaming and crying in agony that shattered my heart.

The next few days were chaotic. Ryosuke had disappeared and I assumed he had gone off to be alone for a while after everything that had happened. I met with the council, as well as with the Nishimura clan to discuss splitting up the Iwashita land. Without their Emperor, the rest of the samurai would scatter and it would not take our armies long to finish cutting down the Iwashita. I placed Asano in control of the Iwashita capital and then returned to the Sakamoto palace.

Radon offered to help return Shinji’s body to wherever Akari wished to bury him. She would bury his body according to the beliefs that she and Shinji shared.

The day before Akari was supposed to bury Shinji, she came to see me.

It was awkward, as if we could not talk to each other as we once had.

“After I bury Shinji, I am going to leave with Radon and the others,” she said.

I frowned. “Wh…what?”

She swallowed. “I have no place here anymore. And I—I am unfit to be a mother. The only reason why I tried was because of Shinji, and my son will have a happier life here. I am a samurai and I always will be. Killing is what I know, and Radon could use my help. So, I will go with him, Jared, and Averella when they leave the day after I bury Shinji. I have made up my mind.”

I looked down at the ground, unsure of what to say, unsure of what I should say. I knew there was nothing I could say to convince her not to leave. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

She bit her lip.

I could tell there was something, but for whatever reason, she was hesitant in asking me, so I took a guess. “Is it about your son?”

Slowly, she nodded. “The people who are watching him wish to return to the hills and live as ronin. That is a life I do not want for him.”

I nodded. “As long as you are away, he is welcome to stay here. I will raise him and care for him as if he were my own. He will never want for anything.” I tried to smile to reassure her.

She only nodded and then bowed. “Thank you very much.”

“If you give me the names, I will send for him immediately,” I said.

“They have already dropped him off with me. He is asleep in my room as we speak.”

I nodded. I wanted to say something else, convince her to keep her son with her. He lost a father and now he would never know his mother. He did not need that. But who was I to tell her what to do at this time, in her grief?

There was nothing I could say or do.

She slid the shoji closed behind her as she left.

***

Hours later, a letter came for me.

It was from Ryosuke.

Megumi,

I have written so many letters before; orders and troop movements, always something about war. This time, I am writing a letter to the woman I love more than life itself.

I was so blinded by all the lies and had allowed myself to become so mistrustful that I saw betrayal where there was none. I killed an innocent man, and have dishonored you by doing so, as well as dishonored myself as a samurai and my beliefs.

I have thought about what sort of a punishment I would have given a man if he had taken an innocent life and now, I know the answer.

I would have cut down the guilty man without a second’s hesitation.

My father regained his honor in his death, and now I am hoping, so will I. There is only one thing I can do that can even come close to atoning for what I have done; for murdering the husband of your best friend.

By the time you read this, I will have already committed seppuku. I could not ask Asano to be there simply because he was the second for my father and I believe doing so for me would be too much for him, especially after Kenta’s death in sacking of the Iwashita capital.

Therefore, I have asked Okada Akari to be my second. It is the closest thing I can offer her in of revenge, without the dark bitterness it leaves behind. She is a skilled samurai, and I have the confidence that if she is needed, she will complete her duty without hesitation.

Maybe in watching me cut myself open, she can find some sort of closure about Shinji’s death. Maybe she will not. There is no way I will ever know. I pray that you will make it through this, and I believe you have been a kind and wise Empress. I have full confidence that you will continue to rule with wisdom and honor for your people in the years to come.

My only regret is that I will not see it.

I love you, have loved you for many years. Though we could not marry officially, you were always my wife in my heart. You will live, and raise our baby to be just as wise and beautiful and strong as you are.

I could not allow myself to read the rest of it. Throwing it down to the ground, I sprinted through the hallways as quickly as I could.

I ran into Radon. As if he knew who I was looking for, he stopped and pointed outside the palace. “They are in the grove just outside the palace walls.”

***

I prayed in vain that I would make it there in time, and at the same time, knowing that I would not. Akari was standing in the middle of the grove of cherry blossoms, tears streaming down her face. There was an empty hole that I realized held Shinji’s body, which was not covered up yet.

Beside the hole in the ground, she had laid Ryosuke on his back, with his katana in his hands. There was blood everywhere, covering his kimono and hakama, staining it crimson.

I collapsed onto the ground, sobbing hard. I was too late.

Her husband died by my husband’s hand, and now my husband had killed himself and my best friend was leaving.

I had no one left.

Epilogue

SKULL

Skull crossed his arms and leaned casually against the wall as he reported in to The Master. “The subject has been acquired, Master. We are beginning the preservation process on Iwashita.” Though Skull was relaying important information, his tone and expression were nothing but bored.

The Master smiled. “Excellent. Turn this project over to Nanev’s control. I want you to return to Ashirra. It is time.”

“Right away, Master.” Skull smiled.

***

AKARI

The fragile pink and while petals of the cherry blossoms danced all around me as I stood inside the small grove of trees. Shinji’s body rested within a hole in the earth below me. Petals fell into his grave with him and I was reminded of the first time I saw him amongst them. Back then, it was a picture of fierce serenity. Now, it was a picture of stagnant chaos that had become my whole world.

The beauty of the blossoms twirling as they danced to the ground, against Shinji’s pale and cold lifeless body was as agonizing as it was peaceful. His life… their beauty, and the end they all continuously met.

The precious moments had been so rare and had been so fragile that only a single moment had completely shattered it. Just like a single second of wind was enough to tear the petals off the tree and down to the ground where they would remain, with my husband’s body, as the earth around it eroded and decayed.

The petals continued their movements, as balletic and alluring as it was unbearable, as if they were mocking me with their beauty, or mourning with me in a sorrow of their own.

They were the peace and assurance of change, the beauty and pain of precious memories. They were a reminder of moments, so slow and yet gone too quickly; a shattering splendor of a single moment in the dance of life.

eclaie

The short ending to Shifter

NSI

Rain poured heavily onto my skin and face as thunder clapped powerfully overhead. The water droplets stung where it touched me, but I didn’t care.

Beroan was gone. Dead. Never coming back.

For days now, I had just been numb; numb to the responsibility I had promised Radon when I had agreed to travel with him, numb to the reunion with my birth father, Tohni, numb to the exhaustion and pain my body was in from the first several transitions into a shapeshifter… Numb to everything except the empty hole in my chest that Beroan had left behind.

“You shouldn’t be out here.” The voice was low and quiet, mysterious just like the man. Aidan slipped in front of me; the hood—so low that I couldn’t really see his face clearly— matched the leather armor he wore, unfamiliar to me since it was from another world.

I shook my head mutely.

“Your body is weak from the transitions, Nsi. It won’t take much to make you ill.”

Tears mixed with the rain drops on my face, burning my face with the pain they brought. “I don’t care.”

Aidan snatched my arm in his own and dragged me to the nearest tent. Fortunately, it was empty. “I know. Radon has given me charge over you.” He released his hold on my arm and grabbed an arrow and began to sharpen it on a stone.

I shook my head, collapsing to my knees. “I feel like I’m burning without him.” Sobs tore from my mouth as I clenched my stomach, desperately trying to hold myself together.

Aidan glanced up at me from his work briefly. His empty eyes for once flashed with emotion, though what, I couldn’t tell. “I’m sorry.”

I gasped and looked at him through the blurry vision the tears caused. In the week that I’d known him, Aidan had never apologized before. “Um… Thank you.”

With a deep inhale, I wiped my eyes and lay down on the furs by the fire. The flames flickered, reminding me of the destruction the dragon shifters had caused. Their roars echoed in my head, making me groan. Beroan’s broken and battered body, with a hole ripped through his side from Sirath, flashed in my mind. The

image refused to leave. I groaned again, squeezing my head with my hands, as if that would make the image disappear.

“What’s wrong?” Aidan asked.

“I can’t… The image won’t go away. I just… I keep seeing Beroan! I can’t what he looked like before. All I see is just… his body with the hole and the blood and…” I panted and had a difficult time catching my breath.

Aidan’s hands gently held my shoulders. “Nsi, I know it is hard, but you must calm down. Breathe. Slowly.”

Nodding, I took a deep breath. Then another and another. Aidan waited for me patiently, until at last, my breathing returned to normal and I relaxed. “What if I can never picture him normal again?”

“I know it feels that way, but in time, you can.” Aidan’s eyes stared into the fire as I watched them closely. They didn’t seem so empty. It was like they were far away, watching a scene unfold in the flames.

“D—did you lose someone too?”

Aidan nodded without saying a word.

I wanted to ask him who, but kept from it. He had released his hold on my shoulders and sat across from me, giving me a perfect view of his face from where I still laid on a warm fur. His eyes were the darkest shade of blue I had ever seen and his curly hair hung across his forehead and over his ears, his features serious and alert with a light beard on his jaw.

“Do not try to think of Beroan specifically. Think of something you did with him, an activity you used to do. It makes the memory come easier.” Aidan blinked and his eyes were blank again.

I closed my eyes, thinking of when I had climbed a tree to be alone. Beroan had been there and we had first met. At last, I could finally picture him; caramel colored skin with long brown hair that held a golden tint to it. His golden eyes, open and honest and kind. “Thank you, Aidan,” I whispered.

***

Tears fell from my eyes as I stared at Gran’s grave, not for the first time. I knew she was old and that it had been her time; she had lived a full life, but I couldn’t help but feel as if her life hadn’t been fair. She had lost her whole family and even Dhz had betrayed her. So many times, I had asked myself if she and Dhz had ever made peace.

“Oh, Gran…” I sobbed, falling onto the ground. More than anything, I wanted her here, to talk to her, to have her comfort me, to just see her one more time. To speak with her about Beroan.

“She is at peace, Nsi.” Radon had somehow come up to kneel beside me and I

hadn’t noticed. I wiped my eyes and met his comforting gaze as he placed a hand on my arm. “The Father has embraced her into His light and she knows no more sorrow. Her family waited for her there.”

I choked, more tears spilling out and I couldn’t control my body. I collapsed onto Radon as he held his arms out and embraced me tightly. “They’re all… happy?”

“And safe,” Radon whispered as his hands gently rubbed my back.

This time, I glanced up at the sky and swore I could almost see Gran.

***

Part of me wished I had never become a shapeshifter. It was daunting and strange. For the past week I had been with Tohni in the woods alone, with Aidan and Radon nearby prepared to help should I need it. The last thing I always ed was Tohni’s expression before I changed. The next thing I always knew, I woke up in the woods, cold, naked, scared, weak, terrified, waiting for them to find me. Tohni was always nearby, and even though he was my father, it was still unnerving to trust a complete stranger to keep me from killing anyone.

Now, as he handed me hide clothes and turned away, I quickly changed and cried out in frustration. Furious tears started streaming from my eyes, but I was tired of crying. Tired of trying, tired of failing, just… tired. “I still have no memory when I’m in my wolf form!” I shouted.

Tohni turned around and met my eyes with a sad expression. “It takes years for new shifters to gain control.”

I shook my head, crossing my arms. “You mean young. Young shifters. Most of them have this part handled before they’re even adults.”

Tohni placed his hands upon my shoulders. “Nsi, your true form was suppressed for your entire life. The mere knowledge that you are able to change at all is a significant blessing.”

“Blessing? This is a curse.” I brushed ed him and trudged through the trees to find my way back to the village. My eyes anxiously scanned the sky for dragons, but it was empty. Ever since Sirath’s death, the dragon clan had gone into hiding. No more attacks on humans. I looked to my left and right, then in front and behind me, and back toward the sky again before continuing onward.

“Tohni, you are needed,” Radon called from up ahead.

Tohni glanced at me. “Will you be all right?” he asked.

I nodded.

In an instant, he shifted forms and darted toward Radon and then ed him toward the village. Radon smiled at me. “Nsi, you do not have to bare this burden alone.”

“Thanks.” I took my time heading back to the village, peering around the woods when I wasn’t deep in thought. By the time I arrived, Aidan stood outside the main tent that I assumed Tohni had gone into. “What’s going on?”

“The humans have attacked young shifters again. The numbers have increased this time. Twelve young dead. The one living witness died from injuries shortly after. He informed the warriors that there had been almost thirty humans attacking them with silver weapons,” Aidan explained.

I gasped. Whatever group Dhz had ed in the capital city had recruited more people to fight against shapeshifters. They ignorantly didn’t realize it had just been the dragon clan among a few others who had attacked and killed so many humans. Now, they attacked and killed shifters, but the wrong ones. It was about to escalate into a war, one that Beroan had sacrificed his life to avoid. “No! We cannot let this happen!”

Aidan shifted his eyes to the tent, but said nothing.

Taking a deep breath, I barged into the tent, only partially caring that I may have interrupted something important. Tohni and his warriors looked up at me when I came in. They all seemed shocked, and some even angry to see me, all of them, that is, except for Tohni.

“Aidan filled me in on what’s going on. We cannot let this turn into a war. Beroan died to keep this from happening!” I tried to keep the panic from seeping into my tone, but I couldn’t. My heart pounded like a drum and my eyes constantly darted around; there was no hiding anything from anyone like this.

“Nsi, we are aware and we will do all we can to prevent further bloodshed.” Tohni met my gaze and his eyes softened. “Beroan will not have died in vain.”

I had no idea what I was thinking, barging in here like that. Nodding my head, I stormed back out, glancing around for Aidan. He hadn’t moved. “Aidan, do you think you could do me a favor?”

His eyes met mine from beneath his hood, seeming to form shadows over him.

“Um… Do you think you could take me to the capital? You know, the city where you rescued Beroan before?”

Aidan nodded once, smoothly. His bow and quiver were already on his back. “It will be a full day’s journey.”

“I know.”

***

A bright crimson dragon roared and darkness exploded from his powerful jaws. Sirath sliced his claw against Beroan. His beautiful golden dragon form breathed out light that met Sirath’s darkness. The darkness rolled on the horizon, shooting straight toward me. Beroan collapsed on the ground with a splatter of blood. Sirath’s jaws opened and charged at me. Fire poured from deep within

him and erupted into a storm of flames that burned and raged all around. The smoke oozed into my nose and mouth and I struggled for breath. Gasping… Gasping, desperate for air…

AIDAN

Nsi screamed and thrashed in her sleep. She rolled onto her left side and gasped, rasping for air. Nightmares were all too familiar to me, which was why I chose to stay awake and keep watch. My body could last for at least three days with no sleep. I briefly thought about waking her before she could injure herself, but a deeper part of me felt that it was not my place.

Suddenly, Nsi’s entire body stilled.

Immediately alert, I leaned forward to watch her closely. Her arm bent backward and broke of its own accord. I had seen this too many times of late; the change as it took over her body. It took much more time than other wolf shifters I observed, thus causing Nsi more pain and confusion than necessary. Her other arm broke, followed by her legs as her spine realigned itself. Soon, fur replaced her skin and she hunched on all fours.

Radon had not allowed me interfere. She needed to learn to control herself in her wolf form, he said, but thus far, she had not been able to. Every muscle in my body yearned to knock her unconscious before the change completed.

I stayed perfectly still.

A white wolf with bright silver eyes crouched before me. Defined muscles lined her legs and her tail swished back and forth as her nose lifted into the air to take in my scent. I stayed where I was, leaning against a tree, but my muscles tensed should I need to fight. “Nsi?” I murmured.

The wolf growled menacingly, jaws open in a snarl to reveal rows of sharpened teeth. She hunched lower to the ground defensively, yet her tail stilled between her back legs. She was frightened. I had gotten to know Nsi fairly well over the past several days and thus far there had not been a single moment where she had not been afraid.

“It’s Aidan, Nsi, ?”

She stayed like that, positioned in defense should I become a threat. I remained unmoving and thus, unthreatening.

“Nsi, think of Beroan.”

Her ears perked at the name. The wolf’s eyes blinked and they softened with a pain that I knew all too well. That same pain I had felt in my own chest, heavy and aching, until I had pushed it so far back that I felt nothing anymore.

Nsi’s eyes met mine and flickered with recognition. Suddenly, her body collapsed onto the ground, convulsing and trembling. This time I could not hold myself back as I ran to her. Her clothes had been torn apart, so I slipped off my outer armored jacket and covered her body with it as much as I could.

I held her human body, even as the trembling finally began to slow as she moaned in her unconscious, disoriented state. For the first time in a long time, the cold, icy numbness that had coated my heart and pushed away all my emotions returned.

As I held Nsi close to me, I realized that I cared for her.

NSI

When I awoke, something was different. Not just something but…

Everything.

A whiff of a sweet, spicy smell of the pine trees reached my nostrils and they twitched involuntarily. Before I could make full sense of what was happening, more smells followed; the musky smell of the dew on the leaves, which had a bitter, earthy odor to them, the crispy aroma of the water, quickly followed by a sharp odor of algae, the sulfuric scent of an animal burrow not too far away, the perfume of the flowers in a nearby field…

The smells slammed into my nose all at once, making it feel as if it was on fire.

I cried out and covered my nose. “M—make it stop!” That was when I realized

that I wasn’t lying on the ground anymore. Instead, I was wrapped in Aidan’s arms.

He quickly released me and pressed his back against a tree to my left. I sat up straight, keeping my hands over my nose, but the burning continued.

“Do you what happened?”

My limbs still ached and throbbed. Memories of the searing agony that swept over me as I shifted made me wince. Tears flooded my eyes and I squeezed them shut. For a moment, I could feel my paws clawing against the dirt, the breeze stirring my fur, my ears twitching at the slightest sound. “I—I don’t want this,” I said as a sob tore itself from my throat.

Much to my surprise, Aidan’s arms came around me again and I released the tears, unable to hold them back a moment longer. “I’m here, Nsi,” he whispered.

If he wasn’t… I truly did not know what I would do.

***

I glanced up at the sky nervously and shifted them from the left side to the right, before coming to rest on the guard at the city gate. Briefly, I met his gaze, before looking back at the sky one more time.

“Sorry,” he said, responding to my question if he would let Aidan and I inside the city. “No one gets in without getting tested first.”

“Tested?” I asked.

The guard nodded. “That’s right.” He gestured to a small shack that had been built recently outside the gates. I had just been here a few days ago and it hadn’t been there. What was going on?

“Nsi, we need to go,” Aidan muttered in my ear. His entire body had tensed up and his right hand played with the end of his bow.

“But I need to see—”

“Now.” Aidan grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the guards and the gates.

“Ma’am, you can’t leave without being tested first!” the guard called.

The door to the shack opened up. “Here is another one!” a familiar voice called.

I froze.

Four guards darted to the doors and grabbed a poor young woman and child. Silver chains had been clamped onto their wrists and ankles and I finally understood what was going on.

“Nsi.” Aidan snatched my hand again and yanked me backward.

The guard at the gate stood in the doorway, talking to someone I couldn’t see, but someone I knew…

Dhz stormed out of the shack and met my gaze. “Nsi…”

Aidan clenched his jaw and shook his head. “No. If he finds out about you, he will not hesitate to kill you.”

“He imprisoned Beroan. He—Beroan was weakened because of you!” I screamed, darting toward Dhz with a furious outcry. Aidan caught me around the waist as I lunged toward Dhz. I would tear him apart with my teeth if I had to. It was because of him that Beroan hadn’t been strong enough to survive the fight with Sirath.

Sirath was already dead, so Dhz was the only chance I had at vengeance.

“Nsi, did you really love that dragon enough to attack what’s left of your own family?” Dhz demanded harshly.

“You’re not my family!” I screamed, thrashing in Aidan’s firm grip. “You never were!”

“What are you talking about, Nsi? Who is that man with you? Another shifter?”

“Nsi, shut your mouth,” Aidan warned darkly.

“Guards, take them into custody!”

Aidan threw me on the ground and had his bow out within seconds. Five guards charged toward him. The first unsheathed a sword, but before he even had it completely out of its sheath, Aidan fired an arrow at him. Ducking below a second guard’s sword, Aidan whirled around and jabbed the end of his bow into the second guard’s face.

He nocked an arrow and quickly shot it at the neck of the third and used his bow to block the sword of the fourth as he twisted to the left to avoid the fifth. Aidan leapt backward in a backflip and, as he flipped, he nocked another arrow.

The instant his feet landed, he shot it and pierced both of the final guards at once.

Dhz’s eyes widened. “Guards! Kill him, now!”

Three more guards emerged from the shack’s doors, but Aidan had already fired an arrow at one by the time they stepped foot onto the ground.

As the last two guards charged him, Aidan loaded two more arrows and somehow managed to shoot them both. Now that Dhz was alone, I glared at him with tears in my eyes.

“Nsi, what’s going on? Who is he?”

“He isn’t who you should be worried about,” I growled as my feet and hands became paws and I could feel my mouth elongating into a snout. Every ounce of me wanted to pounce on him and tear my throat into his neck.

Enemy. He was an enemy. I had to kill him. I gave in to the instincts in my body and leapt upon his body. His fear radiated from him in waves, a bitter stench to my nose, but one I relished in.

Kill him. Kill the enemy.

***

I collapsed onto the ground, covered in a thick layer of blood. It wasn’t mine. Staring at the mangled body beneath me, my entire body quivered. My stomach rolled and I vomited onto the ground, heaving and breathing heavily. “Wh— what have I…? What have I…?”

I could only stare at Dhz’s body in shock, unable to do anything but tremble. “I wanted him to pay for what he had done, but… This… I—Oh…!” The sound became a horrid groan of pain erupting from my throat that became a sob and a scream. “I’m a monster!”

A hand touched my shoulder but I flinched away from it. Aidan knelt beside me, but kept his hands to himself. “Nsi, the man betrayed you and imprisoned Beroan. He led men who have killed dozens of shifters. This is good. Do not be ashamed that you made him pay for his crimes.”

I shook my head, fingers grabbing my hair, pulling at it, wanting the pain to go away, trying to make my stomach stop twisting. My legs stood, but I collapsed back onto the ground as my eyes found his body. I just wanted to get away from it, to get away from him. “No… I—I’m a monster. I’m—“

I crawled until I could stumble to my feet again and I darted away as quickly as I could. Unable to control my body as it trembled, I screamed as panic seized hold of me. Pain erupted in my limbs as they broke all over again.

I was changing.

“No, no, no, no, no, please…! Please, God no! I don’t want to change again, please! I’m a monster, please, no!” I screamed and screamed, but could do nothing to stop my body as it changed once again.

AIDAN

By the time Radon, Tohni, and I found Nsi, she had killed six people. Not once had I felt the weight of guilt or the heaviness of a death upon my shoulders. Yet as Radon looked at me over his shoulder as he prepared to Tohni and sit at Nsi’s side, for the first time in my life, guilt welled up deep within me.

“Why did you not stop her?” Radon’s infuriated eyes met mine and I winced. Despite this, his words were saddened.

“I—I thought she should seek vengeance.” My voice was a low monotone.

“Vengeance belongs to the Father!” Radon’s voice rose in anger for the first time since I had met him. “You were Chosen because you have a great light inside you, Aidan! You are strong and wise, with many talents, yet you continue to use those talents to serve the darkness, darkness that you barely escaped. Do not think I miss that it stirs within your heart, Aidan. I see and know everything about you. You can hide in the shadows from your enemies, but not from me. You cannot hide from the light, Aidan. The more you give into your dark desires, the more you will feed the darkness inside you.”

I swallowed back a lump in my throat, unable to move.

Radon’s sad eyes met mine. “Oh, my son…” he whispered.

I’m not your son, I wanted to say to him, but my voice wouldn’t work.

He turned around and went back into the tent.

NSI

“I’m never going to change again,” I swore, clutching my knees to my chest as I leaned my head on them.

Tohni and Radon exchanged a glance. “These things take time, Nsi. We will help you gain back control and then you can try again,” Tohni said.

I shook my head furiously. “No! I’m a monster and I will not do this again. I want—you can find a way to put the chip back in me. I don’t want this! I don’t want this power!”

Radon placed a hand upon my shoulder. “Will you allow the Father’s light to help you?”

***

My four white paws clenched into the dirt below me as Radon’s light enveloped me. “This will calm your spirit, Nsi,” he murmured.

His warm light spread through me, banishing the urge to kill, to embed my teeth into flesh, to attack everyone around me. I felt a peace like I had never experienced before wash over me. For the first time in my life, there was no more fear.

“Peace be still.” Radon smiled at me and I lay down in my wolf form beside him. Aidan leaned against a tree in the shadows far to my right, watching us closely. I realized I wanted to spend more time with him. The thought came with a twinge of guilt and Beroan’s face flashed in my mind.

Radon’s light filled my thoughts and my heart no longer felt heavy.

In the place of fear, I had found courage. In the place of sorrow, I had found joy. In the place of war, we had found peace. Everything I had once lost, life, family, happiness, peace, had all been reclaimed.

I met Aidan’s eyes hidden beneath his hood and he looked away. Standing to my feet, I looked at Radon and shifted back into my human form. His light washed over me, forming a beautiful white dress over my body. He stood and embraced me tightly.

“Thank you, Radon,” I whispered, tears of joy springing to my eyes.

“You have done well, my daughter.”

I smiled at him, glancing briefly at Aidan. “I’m ready to go.”

Radon placed a hand upon my shoulder. “Nsi, your journey has just begun.”

Sneak Peek of Assassin, Valiant Book Four

Skull, along with four others, ported into the world called Eious. One of the four men was a lieutenant, whose name was Thaddius, although Skull had forgotten it many times.

Skull turned to face him, who paused in his steps at the sound of Skull’s voice. “This is your chance to prove yourself. Go, now. Begin Corruption and prove that you are worthy to be in our ranks.”

Thaddius bobbed his head up-and-down, excited for a chance to finally prove himself.

As he walked away, Skull turned to the other three men. “Now, we must establish a base and train others. Let’s begin.”

***

My name is Aidan, and I am an assassin.

I was well hidden at the top of the walls around the outer part of the city. The marketplace was alive with people under me, going to and fro, almost like ants scurrying about. There was a multitude of tiny stands scattered around the large area, bursting with a variety of goods. Some sold meat, which had just recently been hunted; others sold insignificant potions and herbs, or clothing. There were

also small buildings that held a few stores within them, one of which sold armor and weapons. Despite the fact that I was on a job, I found enjoyment in observing the lives that I never had, although I would never outwardly it that.

My eyes landed on the man I was looking for, Bavyl. He was an opium dealer who had double-crossed one of the king’s advisors more than once and refused to pay him back. I was sent by the king himself, to discover Bavyl’s whereabouts and there he was, scouting the marketplace for new buyers.

I grabbed my bow off my back, unsheathed an arrow, and aimed it directly for Bavyl’s heart.

I never miss.

Author’s Note

Thanks to everyone who has read Samurai and I hope that you’ve enjoyed it. Samurai is my favorite of the earlier Valiant Books, as it’s based on Japanese culture and, of course, samurai, which is my favorite historical time period. I tried to be true to the culture, even if this exists in a fantasy world of my own invention. I still did my research and tried to write this book in a way that would immerse the readers into the world and culture.

As some of you may know, many of The Valiant Books parallel with Bible stories. Samurai’s may not have been as obvious as others, but it has two parallels. The first is with David, in the sense that God blessed him and gave him strength and victory over his enemies, because David honored him. This is similar to Akari and the way she tries to balance her life and dedicate her life to God, while also being a samurai. The second parallel was with the story of Joshua and Jericho. Akari brought the walls down by using her faith in God, in the same way that Joshua and the Israelites brought down the walls of Jericho.

Most of us are blessed enough not to fight in actual wars, but we are at spiritual war. I think a lot of people don’t like to think about that: that we are in a spiritual war and God has called us to be His warriors. That’s part of the overall parallel with The Valiant Series as a whole—in the same way that the Chosen have been called to help Radon, we are chosen by God to be His warriors and spread the Gospel. But we are also called to be warriors—prayer warriors, especially. Satan and his demons are real. Some of us probably don’t like to think or dwell on that for long, but it’s the truth. God will ultimately have victory in the end, but right now we live in a fallen world. So, sometimes, we will lose a few battles here and there. It can feel and be devastating. But when you are going through a battle and it feels like you’ve lost, never forget that God is the ultimate victor. One day, He will rid the world of all sin, all pain, all sorrow. One day, we will live in eternity with Him in Heaven and all the sorrows of this world—all the trials, hardships, and difficulties we have faced will be no more and we will live with

Him in Paradise.

Hold on. Cling to God because He promised to get us through—to never leave us or forsake us.

If you have read this far in Samurai, please consider leaving a review, whether you lived the book or not, as it helps out authors like me. Samurai’s short story ending is Healed, if you want to continue Akari’s personal story. But like the rest of the Chosen, you will see her again.

The Valiant Series continues in Assassin, Book Four. If you’d like to find out more about The Valiant Series or my other books, please visit my website at authorjoannawhite.com.