XXIV. Night
Lord Summer listens to your report with a calm, neutral look.
Then that look starts to falter, and for the first time you see him display an emotion he is not deliberately putting on - a dash of confusion at first, then a touch of anger, and then they fade as he recovers his perfect mask. You would expect him to answer you, to give you instructions or further questions, but he stays silent.
"My lord," you say, hoping you're not trespassing your boundaries, "these are… trying times. Many small settlements in the warlands, feeling abandoned, resent the old order of the Empire. Many commoners even here, in our cities, would see the old rule upended. The Pauper Prince is a threat to the public order - and Silver Crane, his emissary, bears words that we would not wish to have fall into the wrong ears. It is my humble suggestion that she be kept under guard by your most trustworthy and quiet men, and that any interrogator be only one whose tongue never wanders. As for the Hidden Village, it must be fought quickly."
Lord Summer does not react at first - then nods, slowly. He turns to you and you see that glimmer in his eyes, that inhuman shine.
"It is the great ingratitude of men that after this world has been fashioned from rough clay into a home for them, after the Wheel of Fate was built to give order to their lives, after the Heavenly Rulers came from the sky to defend them against the dead and the damned, still they bicker with us, still they demand a new order. But I am a dragon, and not a man; I punish those who have succumbed to hubris, not the race entire for the crimes of a few. The Pauper Prince must be brought low, his village must be destroyed, but I will remain a forgiving ruler." Your lord takes an embroidered fan from the folds of his robes to wave it before his cheek; the casual gesture indicates comfort, and you know it to be a small sign that your presence is favored. " You are a good servant, Tomoe, and your advice is sound. I will ensure that your suggestions are followed. I will muster the samurai clans, gather the ashigaru, and send out scouts to locate the Hidden Village. It is, for now, our utmost priority - I will even summon some of my warriors in the south. There is no point protecting our trade routes if my city falls to a rebellion against the Order of Heaven."
You nod, a tightness in your throat. You were never one for making such broad decisions; you would rather the Lord had taken your suggestion, submitted it to his advisors, and that they made the choice. But you believe it was the right choice, and your Lord shows you his favor by taking it upon your word alone. For this, you are thankful - if also anxious.
"You may go. I would advise that you prepare yourself well; I intend for you to serve an important role in the defeat of these…" His eyes narrow, his lip curls. "...bandits."
You stand up, and bow, and leave the room. When the door closes before you you feel a surge of pressure, a tension of your muscle, a shiver on your skin; and you know that beyond this thin portal is something you are not meant to see.
You depart quickly.
***
Fifty men ride out the gates of Summer. They are light outriders, neither ashigaru nor true samurai. Veteran scouts, who learned the way of Summer's lands over a lifetime: cunning, perceptive, and discreet. They fan out quickly, small groups departing to cover more grounds. Their ways are arcane to you - to you a horse is a powerful and heavy thing, quick but not subtle in the least, and you can scarcely imagine using one for a task requiring stealth. Perhaps the scouts will only use them up to a certain point, then leave them somewhere and explore on foot?
You're not sure why you're musing about this. Perhaps to distract yourself from the imminence of war.
You are standing on the shining white walls of your new city, Ondo and Takeda at your side. As you watch the scouts ride out their eyes are turned inwards, onto the courtyard in which conscripts are being trained in formation fighting and the use of the spear. It's been only three days since your meeting with Silver Crane, and this is the second group of scouts you see being sent out.
"They're only bandits," Takeda says with a sigh. "I'm not sure what this urgency is all about. They're dangerous, sure, but we could have taken them with the forces we already had."
"If you could find them, sure," Ondo says with a scoff. "I'm not sure you realize how hard it could be to find that 'Hidden Village' of theirs."
"It's a town that must support hundreds of bandits, within a couple days of our city at most," Takeda answers, frowning. "Can't be that hard."
Ondo chuckles, and to avoid this turning into a spat you turn towards them with a sigh.
"Ondo is right," you say. "The lands east of Summer are forested hills, stretching up to the south of Autumn. Back when I served with them, we could never get entirely rid of small enclaves of Oni hiding in the woods. Visibility is too restricted, the terrain hinders movement, and they can almost always tell when you're approaching before you find them. Worst comes to worst, they pick up and leave. Obviously that's much harder for a village of a few hundreds of people, but it'll still be a pain to find them."
Ondo nods approvingly. There is a bitterness to the man's attitude, which you recognize very well. With Harvest being outfitted as a new model you haven't been able to pilot it even for simple routine exercises in several days, and it's already frustrating - you long for the intense yet skillful practice of the strings, the strength you feel in its hands. To Ondo, whose bunraku is entirely gone and who will not see another one in weeks - and who knows, bone-deep, that it will never be the same as his old one - the knowledge must cut deep indeed.
Still, it's no reason to antagonize Takeda.
"Well, for that matter," the big man says gruffly, "I'm sure you'd have found them faster than any of these jokers on their tiny horses."
Ondo chuckles, genuinely this time. "Thank you, but I doubt they'd want me fumbling along in my current state. How's your training going, Tomoe?" He asks, and you gracefully take his attempt at dodging the subject.
"Fine, actually," and you're almost surprised to realize this is true. "The first few days I was begging for mercy, but now I'm getting into the rhythm. I can actually walk after a session," you add, to a laugh from the other two. "But I'm feeling the improvements, certainly."
"That's good!" Takeda says, and stands upright. "Then it means you'll finally be in a state to accompany us tonight. Two people is not enough for revelry!"
You grin. "If you feel like you can drink me under the table just because I haven't done this in a while, you are in for a surprise. You will see what training my stamina has accomplished!"
Ondo rolls his eyes theatrically, but you know it's an affectation. Tonight he will have just as much fun as the rest of you, and whichever poor samurai gets roped into following you.
They're your friends, and beware anything that stands in your way.
***
You are playing shogi with Silver Crane.
She is a far better player than you are, but it is fine with you. You're improving a little with every match. Your confrontations are very slow - her style is a patient and calculating one, yours is a patient and defensive one. But that is fine with you, you like taking your time.
"I take it you haven't found the Village yet," she says ten minutes into your game.
"Mhm," you mutter, moving a spear to her left.
"Your Lord will come to me eventually," she says.
"I doubt it. To him it is a matter of principle," you answer.
It's been a week since Crane was put into your custody. She is still treated well, and on the few occasions when you visit her you do not see any signs of torture. Her interrogators always come out of their discussions with her frustrated - she is polite, and informative, but nothing she says is of much use to your Lord and his advisors. You've given up on trying to pry more out of her than you got on your first meeting. Summer's scouts have failed - most of them have returned, but a few have not. You don't believe they will be seen again.
"The guards I have now are very dull," she says, one of her pieces retreating behind her lines. "They do not play, and rarely talk."
You smile faintly. "Makes them good at their job."
She nods. Your game goes on for a while, but eventually you see she's trapping you and don't see a way out.
"Eventually they will find your village," you say as you move on the offensive, a last-ditch effort to break through her lines. "There is only so much ground to cover."
"But it is
our ground." She entraps your pieces, and the game goes on predictably for her. You eventually concede. You pack up the set slowly - she's not allowed to keep it in her room. Your attempts at practicing on your own in the evenings have borne little fruit - in this like in many other studies, you need someone in front of you to make progress.
"This'll end, one way or another," you say as you take the set under your arm and prepare to leave.
Silver Crane only nods.
You spend an hour practicing your calligraphy that night, copying from a record of excerpts from the greatest war treatises of the Empire, hoping it will give you some insight in the war to come. But you're tired - today's training session was particularly hard on your back and shoulders - and struggle to make much sense of it. Eventually you set it aside, and announce to Ami that you are done for the night. She bows respectfully and leave. You can't wait to have a place and servant on your own, so that they can be lodged in a room next to you and answer any call, instead of going back to the servant's quarters of such a large castle.
Nothing to be done about it. You sort out your possessions, snuff out the candles, and sit on your mattress, giving yourself a moment to meditate. You feel it would go better with a cup of sake, but not every evening can be a party. At last you lay down in bed and sleep comes easily.
You sleep ordinary dreams at first. You walk in a great living forest surrounded by wooden samurai. You revive a moment of your adolescent years in Autumn, some people's faces replaced by others. You trace the characters for "dragon" on a blank scroll and the ink comes alive, becoming a giant serpent you have to defeat with only your spear. Simple, nonsensical jumbles of memories, personal issues and random noise.
Then you see a golden city, and follow a woman who has her back turned to you. You try to walk fast enough to reach her, but when she stops you do not dare touch her. She inclines her head, hidden by her fan…
"You must wake up," she says, and your eyes pop open.
The brush of the blade on your neck is almost a caress. Your body freezes instantly, knowing a move will cut you. Moonlight shines upon the steel, and the sword retreats, muffled footsteps on your tatami floor. You turn your head.
"I was wondering if you'd sense me," says the crouching figure at the other end of your room. She wears a simple garb: a faded blue kimono frayed at the edges on soft straw sandals, the same outfit you've seen on dozens of Castle Summer's servants before. But on her head is a domed straw hat, and under it is a mask of cold grey metal in the shape of a bird with a blunt curve of a beak. She holds the wakizashi downwards, a reverse grip; silently she sheathes it and draws her katana, standing up.
"Guess my name," she says, and though you can't see her face you hear a smile in her voice. You sit up, straightening your sleeping gown to cover your chest, your eyes looking around for your weapons. Too far to grab them without being cut down.
"Steel Dove," you hazard, and she nods. "You can't possibly expect to kill me without raising an alarm, nor to escape once that alarm is given."
She slashes the air with her blade and you flinch. You notice it has a strange tinge to it - where Iron Raven's daisho was almost black, this one is almost white; but the hilt is patterned with the same crimson cloth.
"My own survival should be the least of your concerns right now," she whispers. "The people of this castle call you 'Princess' Tomoe. Is that true?"
You nod, steeling your gaze, and slowly stand up. Whatever she does you do not intend to die lying down - but she does not strike you.
"Silver Crane told me to make you an offer, but I already know your answer. She asks that you join us, that you lend your name to our rebellion. An Imperial Princess serving the Pauper Prince would give us the common people."
"As you said, you know my answer." Thoughts run through your head - of deceiving her, of claiming to accept only to betray her, or them at a later date - but these are the fodder of folk stories. They are not your way.
Steel Dove nods, her dove mask following your gestures with small inclination of its beak. She draws her wakizashi in her left hand - you recognize that style as Iron Raven's own.
"You killed my mentor. But Silver Crane says you gave him an honorable death, on the battlefield. That he gave you his sword so you would finish him off. Is that true?"
"I did. A samurai turned bandit is still a samurai."
"Then I will return that favor even as I avenge him. Draw your sword. I will kill you one on one."
You blink, a moment of surprise, then a flicker of hope. You turn to look at your daisho, elegantly displayed on top of the small cupboard that is almost all your furniture.
You have no armor, but neither does she. You don't know how good she is with a sword - that she managed to get this close to you without raising alarm… No, that she managed to reach Silver Crane and then you…
"You're a
kunoichi," you say disdainfully, your hand brushing the scabbard of Iron Raven's daisho.
"One can be an assassin
and a samurai," she says with a shrug.
You look down at the daisho, then your eyes flick down, at the half-empty bag of rice given as your stipend, then up again, at your beautiful naginata hanging from the wall, its engraved dragon glimmering in the moonlight.
[ ]Draw your katana. Duel Steel Dove.
[ ]Pull down your naginata. Fend her off while calling an alarm.
[ ]Throw the bag of rice at her and make a run for it, shouting an alarm.
