Chapter Nine
Present Day, Shouki-mura

"Why are you just sitting there?"

Haruka raised her head from her hands, meeting the curious gaze of a young girl as she sought to dash away the tears that still dampened her long lashes. The stranger was younger than her - perhaps no more than seven at most, yet there was something demanding in her expression that made Haruka hesitate before snapping out a sharp-edged retort.

At her lack of reply, the young girl shuffled closer, peering at her as if she was some kind of exhibit, and Haruka bristled, annoyance flaring in her blue eyes. Some way beyond, a group of older children were gathered, and Haruka realised they had been playing some kind of a game, yet none but the very youngest had chosen to approach her.

"You're the stray kid that Fumi-neechan and the others found yesterday, aren't you?" As the silence threatened to continue, the youngster asked another question, reaching out a podgy finger to touch Haruka's shoulder. "Only yesterday you looked like some kind of mud monster. You look different now."

"Don't poke me!" At this Haruka reacted, reaching up to push the child's hands away. "I'm not some kind of freak for you to gawk at! Leave me alone - I'm not doing anythin' to hurt you!"

"Kiki, come away from her." One of the other children stepped forward at this moment. "She's a wild kid. A desert orphan. She's probably dangerous...they're meant to have claws and shit from climbing rocks, and they tear holes in things with their teeth. You know that we're not supposed to speak to any of those kids, if they come through the village."

"But this one is different," Kiki reasoned, quite unperturbed by either Haruka's unfriendliness or her companion's warning. "I don't think she's dangerous, Kai-nii. She doesn't look scary. She looks sad."

"Noone asked your opinion on anything," Haruka snapped. "I told you. Leave me alone."

"I thought maybe you wanted to play with us," Kiki suggested innocently. "I thought you might be sad cos we were playin' an you were here all by yourself."

"Why would you care?" Haruka countered. "I'm jus' a desert kid, like your buddy said. I ain't part of this village and what I do or don't look like ain't none of your business. Go back an' play your little game. I don't need help from the likes of you!"

"But..."

"You ain't got any idea what I can do, so just go away!"

"Kiki's right, Kai-nii," The other girl of the group stepped forward, toying with the ragged, chewed tail of her hair ribbons as she eyed Haruka pensively. "She is the same kid that Gihou and I found collapsed in the middle of the village yesterday. Which means if she's still here, she must be stayin' with Geiyo-san an' that means she can't be savage. If she was, Geiyo-san'd never help her."

"Fumi, noone asked you." The oldest boy, who was perhaps the same age as Haruka herself said frankly, pulling her forcibly back behind him. "Kiki, this isn't anything we should mess around in. If it's Geiyo-san's business, it's Geiyo-san's business. It ain't ours an' we ain't to get involved. Your Ma'd whip us both good an' raw if she thought you were disobeyin' her."

"You should listen to your friend, kid," Haruka scowled. "I'm a dangerous desert rat. The last kids who spent time with me wound up dead, so you should get away from here before you end up the same way. I ain't goin' to warn you again. Leave me alone!"

At this, Fumi's eyes widened, and she stared at the other girl in alarm.

"You...killed them?" she whispered. "You...killed other kids?"

"Yes. That's right." Haruka knew she'd said too much now, yet somehow in the face of these happy village kids she could not stop the resentful words from spilling out. "I'm not like you and your nice little families safe in a place like this. Noone takes care of me, so I take care of myself. An' I'm strong, too. So you don't wanna get in my way. Else if you do, I might curse you. I ain't someone you want to play with. I'm different."

As she spoke, white flickers of light glimmered around her fingertips, and at the sight of them Kai cursed, grabbing Kiki and forcibly pulling her away from the hot-headed orphan.

"Leave her alone. She's some kind of freak an' we don't need to spend any more time here." He said firmly. "I told you. She's a desert kid. She ain't to do with us."

He turned, sending Haruka a dark glare.

"An' if you dare try an' lay a finger on any of us, I'll see you're hunted down an' punished, so don't think you'll get off lightly." He warned her, his eyes glinting with resolve. "You might think you're some tough girl but this is our village an' even if Geiyo-san likes you, it doesn't mean anyone else will want you here."

"That's enough of that, Kai-kun."

Before Haruka could respond, a fresh voice joined the conversation, and as one person the five youngsters turned, gazing up at the newcomer in surprise.

"Geiyo-san!" Fumi exclaimed, and Anara nodded her head, reaching out to gently touch Kai on the shoulder.

"I know you feel that you have to protect the others, Kai-kun, but you're taking it a step too far this time," she said mildly. "Haruka isn't from this village, but that doesn't mean you should threaten her."

"She said she would kill us if we didn't leave her alone, though!" The second boy, Gihou piped in. "She said she killed other kids and her hands glowed all funny and white!"

"I see." Anara's eyes narrowed, and she flitted her gaze across to Haruka, who for some reason felt like all the fight had drained out of her body. "Haruka, is that what you said?"

"Yes," Haruka said unwillingly, "because they wouldn't leave me alone. I wasn't really going to hurt them. I just...they wouldn't go away, an' I hate when village kids are crowding round me, like they have everything an' I ain't got anything at all."

"So...it wasn't true?" Fumi asked cautiously. "You made it up? You were just tryin' to scare us?"

"But her fingers glowed all white!" Gihou protested. "She was really goin' to zap us if we didn't go away!"

"I already said that would be enough." Anara crouched down at Haruka's side, setting her bag down on the ground and slipping a gentle, protective arm around the stray's shoulders. Oddly, Haruka found that this gesture comforted her wrenched emotions somewhat, and so she didn't push the woman away, merely sinking back against her as the last of her rebellion seeped out of her tired body.

"I think there are probably things that we need to talk about. Sit down, all of you. I won't have rumours spread like wildfire through this village, so we'll get to the bottom of it. Yes, you too, Kai-kun. I know you don't like being told what to do, but this time you can listen as well. All right?"

"Fine," Kai dropped to the ground, a resentful look in his eyes. "I'm listening."

"Good," Anara smiled. "Then let me ask you a question, all of you. How many of you remember the time in the village when Myoume still lived here? Kai, I know you do, since you're the same age as Haruka, more or less. What about the rest of you? Do you remember when my daughter lived in Shouki?"

"I remember," Fumi said seriously. "But she went away to live in the mountains an' she's only come and visited once or twice since then. But everyone said that was because she was going to work for Byakko an' do important stuff for him, so that was why. I was only little then, though. Kiki an' Gihou probably don't remember right."

"Possibly not," Anara acknowledged. "And you were quite young, Fumi, so you might not remember in as clear detail. But Kai, do you? You must do. You must know that Myoume wasn't like the other village children...that that was one of the reasons she left. Your older brother used to play with her sometimes, when they were younger. You must know about the things she could do."

"She was Byakko's person," Kai agreed. "But I don't know what that has to do with her."

He pointed a finger at Haruka, and Haruka poked her tongue out in return.

Anara laughed, shaking her head.

"Quite simply, the reason I'm asking you that is because Haruka is like Myoume in some respects," she said simply. "Like Myoume, she has a white mark on her body. Like Myoume, she's one of Byakko's chosen people. And like Myoume, she's different from other children because she has magic that she doesn't really understand how to use yet."

"Magic?" Kiki's ears pricked up. "Really?"

"I don't want it," Haruka muttered. "I want it to go away. I never asked to be anything to do with Byakko or any of that shit. I don't care about that. If I couldn't do magic...if I couldn't..."

She faltered, the words sticking in her throat, and Anara's grip on her slim body tightened.

"Tell me, Haru-chan, what exactly your magic is?" she asked gently. "As far as you understand - tell me what you can do."

"I..." Haruka bit her lip, half-intending to refuse, but at the look in Anara's gaze she sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Fix stuff, I guess," she said at length. "I don't know how it works, exactly. I jus' know that if someone breaks somethin', I can fix it. Or somethin' like that. Like ripped dresses. Broken shoes. Stuff like that. But I didn't...I didn't mean...it's not like I thought it was. I thought it could just do that. But it...it...I..."

She swallowed hard, tears threatening once more, and Anara sighed.

"I brought something to show you. I hoped you hadn't left the village," she admitted, reaching across to rummage through the bag she had brought along and extracting an old, worn volume, setting it down on the ground. "This was something my husband got from Eiroku in a trade once for medicines from an old man who was ridding himself of a lot of similar tomes. I used it and several others to teach both my children to read and write, so they've seen a lot of use. However, I wanted you to see it too - because I want to make you understand."

"I can't read," Haruka said flatly, making no attempt to look at the book. "So there ain't a point."

"I can read it to you, though, and you can see the pictures." Anara was unmoved, carefully pulling the book into the centre of the circle and opening it, flicking through the pages until she found the one that she wanted.

"That's Byakko!" Kiki exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the picture. "An'...an'...those are all his star thingies. Right?"

"Right," Anara agreed. "This one here belonged to my son, Amefuri. This one is Myoume's as Toroki. And this one..."

She paused, her finger brushing against the sign of Subaru,

"This one is Haruka's. Subaru."

"I'm still not caring." Haruka folded her arms. "So it's a pretty picture. So what?"

"When Byakko was summoned and Sairou was saved, all seven of the Seishi were gathered along with the Miko, Oosugi Suzuno-sama, in order to bring peace to this land."

Anara said softly, running her finger down the columns of fading kanji as she read the text.

"The chosen were drawn from all across the West and answered the call of the God. Tatara, who held sway over the flora of the world. Tokaki, who commanded the ability to shift like lightning across the land. Amefuri, who could conceal himself like the most fleeting of shadows. Toroki, whose sight touched past, present and future. Karasuki, who appeared before Byakko in two guises. Kokie, mistress of the element of air, and Subaru, the weaver of time."

"Weaver of time?" Fumi repeated. "What does that mean, Anara-san?"

"What it says." Anara smiled. "Subaru was one of the longest surviving of Byakko's holy warriors. She lived well over her first century, and so the stories go, was strong and resilient right up till she died. Now her spirit has been reborn within Haruka, and she has been chosen to take on and carry the burdens and the gifts of such an important Seishi by the Tiger himself. It's a tremendous honour, since the power that Subaru possesses is maybe the most powerful of all of the seven Western constellations."

"I don't understand." Despite herself, Haruka eyed the apothecary uncertainly. "I don't see what it means...what is a weaver of time?"

"Does that mean she can, you know, go back to last week or something?" Gihou demanded, and Anara laughed, shaking her head.

"No. Not that kind of time weaver," she said. "What Subaru can do is turn time forwards or back on individual things. Objects. People too, perhaps."

She cast Haruka a smile.

"When you say you can fix things that are broken, what you're actually doing is sending them back to an earlier state, before they became damaged," she explained. "Right now you've only just begun to use it, so you haven't realised the full strength and implication of the magic. But at its most powerful, Haru-chan, it might even be strong enough to bring someone back from the brink of death. The power you have is not a destructive one. On the contrary, it's a healing one. It has the power to take the most wrecked of items and return it to its pristine state. And not only that."

She patted the book gently.

"There are many references in this book to how Subaru used her power to keep Tatara eternally young, in order that he would not age and die and therefore could protect the Miko's treasure until the coming of a foreign Miko to claim it." She added. "For well over ninety years she kept that spell in place, preserving Tatara in the form of a twenty year old man so that he could even evade the end of his life. Her power is a tremendous one, all in all. What you have inside of you is something very special indeed. Something from which you shouldn't try to run."

"But...I..." Haruka gazed at her hands, then up at her companion in disbelief. "I can really do all those things? I mean, one day? If I really tried...? All that stuff...you didn't make it up? It's really true?"

"As true as any written account of Sairou's history," Anara agreed.

"Then why...in the cave..." Haruka faltered, and Anara put a hand on her shoulder.

"Something happened in the mountains, didn't it?" she asked softly. "Something you think was your fault. But I can't imagine that Subaru's power could ever be used to kill someone. Whatever happened to your friends - I'm sure that it wasn't you who caused it. Will you tell me, Haruka? I won't be angry with you, or send you away from the village. But if you don't explain, we can't understand. And I think we need to, if it's bothering you so much. , you're a very special individual. You've been chosen by Byakko for this task, whatever it proves to be."

Haruka swallowed hard, twisting her fingers together absently as she summoned her courage.

"We were in this cave with gems all over the wall, like stars," she said falteringly. "Me an' Hami an' the chibi, sorting out the food. An' one of the walls was cracked, so they told me to fix it. It was our cave, you see. Was goin' to be, anyway. So I tried an' used my magic, but when I did...when I did..."

She closed her eyes, a shiver going through her young body as the memory ripped across her senses once more.

"Somethin' thick an' dark filled the cave an' the next thing I knew the chibi was on the ground an' Hami was talkin' all strange an' shit," she said, her voice wavering as she fought to control her emotions. "She said a bunch of stuff I didn't understand. Then when Azuhi came back, it was like...all this black shit came out of Hami an' she collapsed on the floor. She was dead, like all the life'd been sucked out of her. Chibi too. An' I...I was the only one left. I know I felt somethin' inside of me, an' I thought maybe...maybe it was me that did it. Azuhi told me that he saw me, an' that it was my fault. But I don't...I don't know. I don't want to be the one who did it. I don't want..."

"Oh, Haru-chan," Anara hugged her tightly, and Haruka buried her head in the woman's shoulder. "I don't know what it was you encountered in the cave, but I am absolutely sure that it wasn't your magic that killed your friends. You're Byakko's - remember that, all right? Byakko's magic emits white energy. Not black. Whatever hurt them was something else. Not you. Something that was maybe hiding in the cave before you got there. Okay? It wasn't your fault. I'm sure of that. I'm sure that Subaru's magic couldn't have killed anyone in that kind of situation. More likely it protected you - even if it couldn't protect your friends from harm."

"Then that makes it my fault too, doesn't it?" Haruka raised plaintive eyes to her companion's. "Because I couldn't protect 'em? If I have this from Byakko, shouldn't I have? But I tried to protect the chibi an' I couldn't...I couldn't..."

"Shh." Anara shook her head. "Stop it. You're not to blame. I'm certain of that. Whatever happened in that cave happened for some other reason. It didn't happen because you have Subaru's magic inside of you. Byakko chose you for a reason, and that reason was that he has faith in you. Even if everyone else seems to have abandoned you, he hasn't - he's selected you out of everyone to be reborn with that particular Seishi spirit. Which means he believes wholeheartedly in your abilities. And that's why you survived in the cave. That's why you came here, so I could tell you about Byakko and, maybe, help you find the right people who can guide you forwards from here. Do you understand? You're not alone at all. Especially not now."

"So she's...really...Byakko's?" Kai looked flummoxed. "Like Myoume-neesan?"

"Yes," Anara agreed. "But I don't want you kids making a big thing of it. Haruka's not the same as you in some ways, but she's not dangerous either. And I hope, for the time being, she'll stay here. Because I'm sure that if Byakko's called her, there's a reason and we need to look into it further."

Haruka swallowed hard.

"You really think that I'm that important?" she whispered, and Anara nodded.

"If you'll let me, I'll try and help you find out why you're here like this," she said frankly. "I'm not Byakko's myself, but sometimes I feel like he chose me too, because of Myoume and Miramu. And if I can help you, Haru-chan..."

Haruka bit her lip, then, slowly, she nodded her head.

"You're the first person who's wanted to, since Pa died," she murmured. "Even if it is because I have this power, I guess it's better'n nothing."

"It's not about that at all," Anara assured her, touching her cheek gently. "To me, Myoume was always Myoume and Miramu, Miramu. Their stellar selves were quite separate people in many ways, and I never saw them when I looked at my children. But if you have this calling, Haruka, we have to find out why."

She frowned.

"Maybe by going back to the cave in which your friends died."

"No!" Horror flooded Haruka's expression and she shook her head violently. "I don't want to go back there! Not now, not ever, and noone else should go either!"

"It might be necessary," Anara said quietly. "What happened there might well be connected with why you're here. And if it is, we need to know about it. One way or another, we do. I know Myoume'd say the same if she was here. That's the first thing we need to do. Investigate the cave."

"What if you got hurt too?" Haruka demanded.

"I'm sure that won't happen." Anara shook her head. "And if we don't go, then we might make things worse. Don't look so frightened, Haruka. We'll get to the bottom of this - and I'm sure, we'll find out exactly why it is Byakko's called you here after over a century of peace in Sairou!"

Well, it had been a gamble.

The archer sat back against the gnarled trunk of the aging elm tree, idly toying with the point of an arrow as he gazed across the palace grounds to the small network of rooms that Rouhei called his own. His shot had been perfect, and his judgement of the man's reflexes equally impeccable, but even so he had quickly realised the limitations of his choice of ally. A Han, yes. He was the Prince's man, without doubt. But no more than that.

It was not his intention to sacrifice lives unecessarily.

At this ironic thought, the archer's lip curled in wry humour, and he shook his head slightly, tossing the arrowhead up in the air and catching it in his opposite fist. On that subject, Byakko had been quite clear.

"Enough blood has been spilt already," The God had said. "Spill no more, my friend, if it can at all be helped. This is the most important rule of all - my people have suffered already and they do not need to suffer more."

"But that might be easier said than done, Tiger-kami-sama." The archer raised seiran eyes to the cloud-mottled sky, clasping the arrow head more tightly as he watched the wisps of white drifting aimlessly towards the horizon. "This Rouhei is probably as skilled as any other member of the clan when it comes to the matters of court security. But he's not the same, and whether he stands a chance when pitted against an enemy of this nature, I guess time will only tell. Still, I have to acknowledge that the memories I have of the interior of that place are first class. You promised me that I could keep that information, and for the first time since I've come here, I think I'm starting to make it count."

He dropped the arrowhead into his pocket, stretching out more comfortably on the branch. Below him, men and women of the court hurried about their business, but he did not bother about them, knowing that not a single one of them would be able to see him perched in the leafy boughs above.

"This place is not a safe place, just as it wasn't one a hundred years ago," he mused. "Byakko said I would find one of his people here, but instead I've found the Han assassin trying desperately to draw lines between stars, and the distinctive taint of a dark spirit poisoning the atmosphere. If Byakko's chosen has left the court, that might be a good sign - at least if they're not in this environment, Makiko might find it harder to locate them and harm them. At least, I don't know if she can sense the embers of her curse inside of the Tiger's Seishi. I hope that she hasn't reached a high enough level to do that yet, but I have to be prepared for it. You said that, didn't you, Byakko? That I should not underestimate this enemy any more for being dead a hundred years."

He glanced at his hands, taking in the faint scarring across his skin. They were not real scars, he knew that, but faint relics of many pasts spent in turmoil and uncertainty. Understanding did not bring automatic release, he had learnt that all too easily. But yet, somehow, even though not all of the memories that swirled through him were palatable, little by little he was beginning to put them into perspective.

"Everything ties together and makes much more sense," he muttered. "If I'd known that the last time, I might have done things in a different way. But I can't go back. Noone can do that. I can just go forward, and hope that what I do is enough."

A bird flew out of the branches above and he scowled at its retreating form, resentful of its freedom as it soared up towards the sky. He was a chained beast, just as his God was, and his time was more limited than Makiko's was. If she wanted revenge, she could wait forever to take it. That luxury was not one he had. Although he was not like the Han astrologer or the young girl beneath the village tree, he knew that his time was as limited as theirs was. He was not eternal. And Makiko, unless Byakko was summoned once more, could continue to pollute Sairou's people forever.

"The fact she came here before I did isn't a surprise, but it is a disappointment," he murmured softly. "One I can't afford not to act on. My suspicions about the young girl were right. That Subaru kid really did bring Jiene's words true, and Makiko really has been freed from her prison. That means only one thing...that Byakko no Miko must have returned to Sairou. And dammit, my next job is to try and find her, before Makiko's bitch spirit finds a way to possess and manipulate her for her own ends!"

The sensation had been unmistakeable.

Makiko gazed out across the palace grounds, knitting Sashi's pretty features into an expression of consternation as she struggled to get a bearing on the impulse that had shot through her senses moments before. For an instant she had felt the unmistakeable chi of her one-time assassin, searing through the atmosphere like an arrow fired from a bow. Then, as soon as it had come, it had once more disappeared, leaving her feel both angry and uneasy at it's proximity.

Could he have returned to find her so soon? Surely not, she reasoned, as she rested the Ueke Princess's finely manicured hands on the sill. Unlike her, who existed eternally beyond death, the reborn souls of those around her did not possess the memories of their past incarnations, and it would be impossible for even one of Byakko's people to be able to track her quite so quickly. She was long dead, . The only person who knew definitively of her presence at court was the being whose body she currently used to move from place to place undetected, and though occasionally she felt Sashi's spirit struggle within her, she knew she had the Ueke Princess's soul well under her control.

But a Seishi was different.

She curled her lip, turning away from the grounds as she contemplated.

She had no way of knowing how deeply her curse still ran through Byakko's people. With Tenkou's destruction, she realised, her own power had weakened considerably and even now she was a literal shadow of her former self. With Tenkou's help, she knew, she would have become a true immortal demon, with magic strong enough to overcome the most resilient of stellar warriors. But Tenkou was gone, and there was no point in clinging onto regrets that she could not change. Her mentor may have been destroyed, but she was still here. And she still had her revenge to carry out on this pitiful Western nation.

She would find and kill each of Byakko's people, one by one. She would discredit and torment them as she had never done before. And more, if the Tiger dared to send a Miko to the ShijinTenchishou, this time she would not let the girl escape. Last time, somehow, Byakko had spirited his Priestess away before the curse could curl itself around her heart. But this time, Makiko was resolved, would be different. If the game was to be played out again, she would not be as slow to arms this time. She would find and destroy the Priestess, too. A tainted soul could not be brought back to the ShijinTenchishou as Priestess, . Byakko no Miko must be pure. And if they failed this time, she would ensure that they would never have another chance to succeed.

"Sashi-hime?"

The voice of her lady in waiting startled her and she turned, offering the woman a faint smile.

"Rairi?" she murmured. "Is there something amiss?"

"You seemed upset, my Lady - I wondered if there was something you might need me for?" Rairi bowed her head, raising her gaze to eye her mistress quizzically.

Makiko bit down on her initial impatience, her mind teasing through Sashi's detailed memories of court life as slowly she formulated a plan.

"I think that it's been a long day," she said slowly. "It seems like the court has become so much less merry of late. Do you feel that too, Rairi? Or is it simply my imagination?"

"Perhaps you're missing Ouba-hime, my Lady," Rairi suggested, a smile touching her lips. "The court is certainly duller without her presence, and I think a lot of people are missing her badly."

"Ouba..." Makiko pursed her lips, darting her senses across Sashi's recollections of the Princess of Sairou. "Yes. Maybe you are right. Since Ouba left, the court has not been the same. I do miss her, a good deal. Perhaps that is what troubles me. Although..."

She sighed, smoothing her skirt absently over her knees as the vague traces of a plan began to formulate in her mind.

"Rairi, I can trust you, can't I?" she asked softly, and Rairi looked surprised, nodding her head.

"With all faith, Hime-sama," she agreed. "You know that I would never break a confidence that you invested in me to keep."

"Yes, I know," A slow smile touched Sashi's pretty features, even as Makiko's derision for the servant's loyalty flourished inside of her. "Then I will tell you. The truth is, I did not sleep as well as I might have done these past couple of nights. Dreams have plagued me, and I have been unsure how to interpret them."

"Dreams, Hime?" Rairi knelt down on the floor, glancing up at her mistress in confusion. "Bad dreams?"

"No, I don't think so," Makiko shook her head. "More...a dream relating to Kitora-sama, Byakko's blessed Guardian spirit."

"Kitora-sama?" Rairi's eyes widened. "Do you mean...a message from the Mage herself?"

Makiko nodded her head, inwardly marvelling at the girl's gullibility. Rairi was a Funoki who had come from the Northern province with Sashi on her marriage to Nefuru, and was of the same faith, her family steeped in the traditions of Kitora's cult. Of all of Sashi's servants, Rairi was the most likely to believe without question a message from the divine, and Makiko revelled in her ability to manipulate these fools as easily as puppets on strings.

"I almost think she was trying to warn me," she said now, injecting a note of sadness into her tones. "Byakko protects this land from harm, thanks to the diligence of those who came to answer Byakko's call a century ago. Thanks to them, we all have peace and tranquility. However..."

"However...?" Rairi looked anxious. "Something is amiss, Hime?"

"The legend of Byakko is over, and the land was saved," Makiko said carefully. "You know that, don't you, Rairi? By Kitora's grace and Byakko's benevolence, we all have freedom and security. Byakko came and the people who served him united to help him achieve those goals. And Byakko no Miko - Oosugi Suzuno - she wished for the peace of the West and the end to war and strife."

"Yes, Hime. I know the legend as well as any citizen of Sairou."

"Not a legend, Rairi, but history," Makiko chided her. "These things happened. They are beyond doubt."

"True," Rairi agreed. "But Kitora-sama's message? Sashi-hime-sama, please, share with me your concerns. If Kitora-sama has spoken to you again, we would do well to hear her warnings."

She smiled.

"You were the one who told me Kitora-sama had guided you to accept the Prince's proposal and come South to Arudo," she added. "Her judgement is sound...I would like to hear her words, if you will share them with me."

Makiko eyed her for a moment. Then she nodded.

"Kitora-sama believes that a demon is lurking in Sairou," she said softly. "And this demon is trying to upset the balance of peace by sending imposters into the world. This demon wishes to infiltrate even the blessed mantle of Byakko no Miko and taint it by bringing her minions of chaos to hurt us all. Seven people claiming to be Byakko's people who, if allowed to pass and succeed, will bring the destruction of this land. And it frightens me, Rairi, since I heard a rumour that Ouba was sent from this place in order to protect her from incoming danger. Yet I worry...that she might be a target for these people. And that, if we're not careful, our peace and security might come tumbling down around us."

"Imposters?" Rairi whitened, and Makiko nodded.

"There is no need for Byakko's legend to repeat," she said simply. "I don't know if it's even possible for it to do so. Suzuno-sama succeeded the first time. The Seishi summoned the God, and brought peace. There is no reason for any of them to return. So it troubles me that Rouhei is so sure he's encountered evidence of people with Byakko's mark. Kitora-sama is closer to Byakko than any of us, and she wouldn't send me a warning if it wasn't the absolute truth. I'm certain of that with all my heart and soul."

She hesitated, and then got to her feet, moving across the chamber to her dresser. Carefully she opened the small wooden jewel chest, extracting the broken charm of protection that had been shattered when Makiko had forcibly entered Sashi's body. Slowly she held it up.

"Then this happened." She said gravely. "Without any reason, the pearl separated from the silver, as if something had cracked straight across it. This is an omen, sure enough, that Kitora's warning to me is true. There are people in Sairou now who mean us all great harm."

She clutched her hands to her chest.

"I have a husband and a baby son whose lives I fear for," she added, injecting just the right amount of emotion into her tones. "And if Ouba is also at risk...Rairi, I couldn't bear it if they got hurt. But I don't know what to do about it. Whether to tell Nefuru or whether not to trouble him when he is already so worried about his sister's progress to the East."

Rairi was silent for a moment, pursing her lips. Then she bowed her head in the Princess's direction.

"I share your faith in Kitora's word, Hime-sama," she said softly. "And if she sends such a warning, it must be considered true. Byakko's legend is over, . That means that any other coming of Byakko's people must be false. And Sairou must be protected from their darkness."

"You think so, also?" Makiko hid her triumph, sending the other woman a faint smile. "Perhaps it would be better, then, for me to act. To at least do my best to neutralise this threat, even if I can't do anything decisive with what I find."

She set the charm back down on the unit.

"Rairi, go at once to the military barracks," she said quietly. "Tell Captain Zarin of my personal Guard to come here and report to me directly. I have a charge to give him which cannot be delayed in its carrying out. I want him to find them - all of them - and bring them to the palace for investigation and interrogation. Then we will surely see what this demon intends, if we have them all here before us!"

Author's Note
So I keep promising to upload the chapters that are completed but I keep not getting around to it. I'm doing it bit by bit now though…sorry for the wait ;) Who knows, maybe I'll get the inspiration to finish the wretched thing, though its been so long…