The Dog Admiral leaped over the high stone wall enclosing the Gekkouju.
This was not his shining moment; he was not at his honorable best – quite the contrary.
But orders had come from the top and his was not to question why.
"That princess is going to cause us great sorrow," the seer had divined.
The king had ordered him to find and kill her.
'And I'd have killed her sooner if the sly old fox hadn't been so devious,' he thought darkly as he trampled underfoot the emerald carpet of summer grass, hardly taking in their fragrance although his nose was quite exceptional.
He had searched high and low for her over several months, but the daimyo would hide his daughter in one secret location after another.
Rumour had it, that a voice from the clouds had warned him to keep his daughter away from the dogs.
The Admiral bared his fangs in the semblance of a toothy grin.
Like that's gonna happen…
Unsheathing the sword that was going to become Tessaiga and Tenseiga, he marched on, drawn towards the sound of niko that was coming from the centre of the garden.
Just one strike and her head will roll.
And yet, as he approached the gazebo washed by silver moonlight…
A whiff of roses, the rustle of silk over porcelain, lips redder than the blood that smeared his hands…
The Admiral stopped in his tracks. The niko went on playing.