Chapter Eleven:

Amayami hid a wince as Cho raked an ivory comb through her hair. Apart from breakfast this morning, Touga seemed to be avoiding her, occupying himself with the orchard and rain battered rose garden. She stared down at her hands piled atop each other in her lap. They looked ghostly against the crimson silk of her kimono.

"…I cannot believe that man came all this way on that beastly dragon! And in this weather!" Cho fussed, pulling vigorously on Amayami's hair. "It's a wonder that either of you didn't catch your death!"

Amayami concentrated on the gold and scarlet embroidery decorating the hems of her long sleeves. Part of her wanted to defend Touga, but the pang in her heart prevented any such diligence. "I don't get sick."

"That's hardly an excuse," Cho snapped, waving the ivory comb for emphasis. "If he were my husband-"

"Well, he is not your husband." Amayami twisted around to level her gaze at Cho. She carefully schooled her features, but there was no hiding the annoyance in her narrowed eyes. "If I choose not to be offended by his actions, then you should do likewise."

Cho raised her pale eyebrows and drew back a little, her lips twitching in mild amusement. "Touchy little thing, aren't you? All I meant was that if you don't remind Touga-sama to think of others, then he won't."

Color rushed over Amayami's cheeks and her spine stiffened just slightly. She was too proud to apologize for her outburst and too well mannered to remain unabashed. "He thinks of me often, a little too often for my liking."

"Oh, such a sour face!" Cho laughed, a sound as clear and joyous as the tiny clay bells strung outside on the veranda. "Be thankful he thinks of you at all. Now stop scowling, child, or you'll get ugly wrinkles like my grandfather."

"I'm not scowling!" Amayami protested, and then looked contrite. "I am thankful, it's only…" Against her will, her thoughts drifted to the deep line between Touga's brows and the inconspicuous marks from countless frowns imbedded around his smooth lips. She longed to map each line with her fingertips, committing them to memory. But there was always impatience in his embrace that she knew he would never sit still for such an inspection.

"I don't like the carriage," she admitted.

"I see." Cho's voice was calm, but held a titter of amusement. "Do you have something against keeping dry?"

Amayami felt a smile tug at her lips but kept her voice neutral. "As a matter of fact I do." She turned to face Cho. "Have you ever flown through a thunderstorm?" Her smile broadened into a grin and she turned back around as the elder woman shook her head. "Then you couldn't possibly understand."

"Oh, I can understand a lot of things." Cho's tone was dour, matching her narrow-eyed expression. "Like the real reason Touga didn't bring the carriage was probably because he wanted you to himself for two whole days."

Sighing, Amayami picked up a length of silk ribbon from the table and tangled it between her pale fingers. "We were trying to get away from everything, not drag it with us." She knew she was making excuses for him and could not fathom the reason. It was almost instinctual.

"Ha! And here I thought Touga's idea of romance was flinging girls into bed by their hair." Cho laughed and shoved playfully at Amayami's shoulder. Amayami's back stiffened until the space between her shoulder blades ached.

"Oh, don't fret now, child! Touga has been my cousin far longer than he's been your husband. I'm not saying anything that I haven't witnessed with these two eyes. Of course, I don't remember him looking at them like he looks at you."

Amayami stifled a bitter laugh. Knowing that Touga had other lovers was far different than hearing of it from a stranger. The shame might have been easier to endure had Cho not been a relative stranger or had the entire territory not known that Touga spent more time in the beds of his concubines than that of his wife. A tremble swept through her as she realized that it was partly her fault. She wanted his concubines gone from the stronghold, but in pressing the issue she had only managed to drive him to their beds.

"Stop fidgeting, child!" Cho fussed, and then yanked Amayami's hair hard enough that her head snapped back. "Or I'll never get your plaits straight!"

"That would be an unimaginable tragedy, I'm certain." Amayami arched a brow and crossed her arms over her waist, wincing as her head bobbed back. "Although, the fact that I still have hair attached to my head speaks volumes of my tenacity."

"My, don't you talk pretty." Cho paused in mid-braid and tapped a finger against her painted lips. "Of course, everything about you is pretty, especially your hair. Oh! We should change your clothes. You're too beautiful to hide beneath all this silk and brocade."

Amayami slanted a look at Cho. "I suppose I could go naked," she said ruefully, smoothing her hands along her sleeves. Perhaps because she suspected Cho was preparing her for Touga's gaze, but something about changing her clothes left her unsettled. Touching her fingers to her brow, she breathed a weary sigh, and tried to make light of the situation. "Touga would approve, at least."

"Hardly," Cho said dryly, rolling her eyes skyward. "He's far too jealous. Besides, the western stronghold might be warm enough to run around naked, but around here, these mountains can get awful drafty."

"Why would he be jealous?" Her words were incredulous, but then she was suddenly seized by anger. "It's not me who is in a different bed every night!"

Amayami glared at the wall, her pale eyes smoking, her breast rising and falling with each agitated breath. "I am certainly not the one flirting with every pretty thing that visits the stronghold! Does he honestly think I'm so deaf and blind that I wouldn't notice the all time he spends in private negations with the daughters of our vassals?"

Silence greeted her tirade. She drew a shaking breath, her cheeks flaming with humiliation, and tried to look contrite. Her outburst had been untoward and an inexcusable breach of decorum, but—

Oh, the hell with it, she thought guiltily, and bit her lip to keep from smiling. Venting had felt wonderful, even cathartic.

"That sounds like our Touga," Cho said after a moment. Her tone was dry, but airy as if she were trying to hold back laughter. "Always rutting and strutting about. Oh and talk about bragging! Did you know that Sesshoumaru-dono used to sleep on the bench outside Touga's room? It was the only way he could keep the boy indoors at night!"

"Perhaps I should do the same," Amayami snapped with a dark look and crossed her arms over her chest, positively seething. "I'll put an end to his promiscuity with a sword if need be!"

Cho pressed one hand against her breast, feeling the rapid thud of her pulse beneath. Something within that low, sharp tone bespoke of woman that would gladly make good upon her threats. Oh, cousin, she thought, reigning in her chuckles. I think you've met your match.

"Feeling better, dear?"

The question drew a smile from Amayami and a small laugh as she nodded her head. "I apologize for my indiscretion," she said with all the polish of her station, but her grin proved her statement less than sincere. "I should not speak ill of your kin."

Cho smiled and lifted her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. "Words never hurt no one and besides…" She wrinkled her nose, chewing over her thoughts. "I didn't understand half of what you said. Touga's a what? A promise-something?"

"Promiscuous," Amayami repeated, smiling sadly at a sudden pang of homesickness. Her father would have been aghast that such a tawdry word had come from his daughter's lips and would have insisted the Lady General was a horrid influence. Father, General.

Hot tears sprang to the corners of her eyes, streaking down her cheeks, before she could blink them away. She missed them both so much and feared she might never hear from either again. Damn it, she thought, sniffing softly. I'm stronger than this! "It means…"

Swallowing, she searched for the proper word, but her thoughts were too poignant to find one. "He's a whore."

Cho slapped her hands together and laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. "Oh, how true, how true!" she cackled breathlessly, nudging affectionately at Amayami's shoulder. "Oh, but don't think keeping Touga from whoring was the only reason Sesshoumaru-dono made the benches his roost in those years."

Amayami closed her eyes, allowing her tears to dry. Hopefully, Cho had not noticed or if she had, would have the grace not mention it. Something within her told she would not be so fortunate. "Why else?" she asked with a somber smile. "What was Touga like?"

"He was… Well, you see, back then Touga had a vicious streak as wide as this here valley." Cho spread her arms wide in an encompassing gesture, and then let them drop with a weary smile. "Still does, I imagine."

"A lot of people are vicious," Amayami murmured, soft and quick like a hiss as she thought of her ravaged homeland and of all the people Touga had slaughtered without a second thought. The same Touga that could steal her breath with a kiss and make her troubles fade with a single infectious grin.

"Some are merely more devious than others with their cruelty."

Cho stared at her for a full minute, sensing the pain beneath the stillness of her expression. She laid her hands on Amayami's shoulders, squeezing lightly, as a sudden swell of compassion washed over her. "And some are cruel for fear of being kind."

"Some are kind to hide their cruelty," Amayami countered, relaxing as Cho began to rub her shoulders lightly. "Tell me more about Sesshoumaru. Did he really build this house himself? And why did Touga's ill temper worry him so?"

"Sesshoumaru-dono," Cho corrected sharply. "Calling the late master just Sesshoumaru will get you right sour looks in this house. Oh, dear, it was more than just ill temper. Touga loved to pick fights, especially with folks that were stronger than him. The stronger the better actually. Oh, he was the meanest boy in this part of the territory! I remember Sesshoumaru-dono tanning his hide more than once, but it didn't do a lick of good."

Amayami smiled sardonically. "He should have tried punching him in the face." She made a throw away gesture, waving off Cho's baffled expression. "I'm going for a walk."

Cho sighed in disappointment and pressed a hand to her cheek. "I have chores to finish, so I suppose it's for the best. Oh, perhaps, you can help me with my embroidery this evening?"

Amayami rose to her feet, an apology weighing on her tongue. She was no prim and proper lady who had spent her childhood behind an embroidery frame. Instead, she had been reared on the battlefield with a sword in her hand. For a moment, she wondered what her life would have been like had there not been a war.

Would she have been like her cousins, wiling away the days with koto lessons and embroidery without a solitary care in the world? Or would she have still donned armor and fought alongside her father to defend their territory?

"I don't know how," she admitted, long after Cho had stopped waiting for a response. "My mother died when I was very young." Her voice was soft and even. "I had nursemaids and a governess, but they were more bodyguards than mothers."

"Oh," Cho breathed, realizing she had just been told something deeply intimate. She had other questions, but they all died without asking. She would ask Touga later, she decided, and if he had no answers, at least his curiosity would be piqued. "Can you read?"

Amayami furrowed her brows in confusion. The question struck her as odd, mostly for its earnest sincerity. "Of course," she replied, stepping out onto the narrow porch. Sighing, she leaned against the waist high railing and clasped her hands around the polished wood.

"My mother had wanted me to become a scholar, but…" She frowned, wondering why the mother she barely knew sprang so quickly to her thoughts. "Can't you?"

"Read?" Cho asked after joining her outside on the porch. "Well, some, I guess. I know what the humans call women's script, but most of Sesshoumaru-dono's manuscripts are written in kanji. Oh! I know. Maybe we could work out a trade? I'll teach you to how embroider and then you can read to me. How does that sound?"

Amayami frowned, but was mostly amused. Embroidery or anything else so mundane had never interested her. Such skills were useful, but not nearly as appealing as mathematics, astronomy, or the literature she was exposed to as a child. "The trade you propose is not to either of our benefits. It would be far more prudent for you to master kanji rather than depend on another to read to you." She raised a hand to silence Cho's protest. "And I already have more seamstresses than I know what to do with."

"But wouldn't it be more prudent for you to master embroidery, rather than depend on another to do your mending? Cho noted Amayami's quick grin and mirrored it. "You're poking fun at me."

Back braced against the railing, Amayami pushed to her feet. Her eyes narrowed and she tapped a finger to her lips as if trying to beat back a smile. "Would I tease the cousin of my dear husband?"

"Touga has nothing to do with it," Cho scoffed. "You're just…just…"

Amayami lifted a brow, amusement sparkling in her eyes. "I'm just what?"

Cho laughed and covered her mouth with one hand. "You're the most perplexing child I've ever met. One moment you're giving me a stern tongue lashing and in the next you're stabbing me with your wit."

"Better my wit than my sword, I think," Amayami mused, hiking her kimono above her knees. With easy grace, she hopped from the porch and landed on the scrubbed cobblestones. She spun on her heel, twelve layers of silk swung at her sides, fluttering down to cover her bare feet. "Perhaps, I merely seem perplexing because you're too accustomed to the mundane."

"Even your barbs are half in jest." Cho scrutinized Amayami for a few moments and tried to picture her in armor instead of silk and brocade. The image was enough to make her chest ache. "That kimono swallows you."

"It's fine." Amayami straightened and stiffened, posing her arms until her garments fell into the proper angles. After a moment, she smiled and stared unblinking, like a wide-eyed doll. "Perhaps I should wear my boots so that my hems don't drag along the ground."

Cho shook her head, frowning. "No, it isn't fine. You could fit Touga in there with you."

"Now wouldn't that be a sight?" Amayami asked ruefully, trying not to frown as she smoothed her slim hands down her clothes. The kimono was a gift from her father and had fit perfectly before her wedding. She clasped her hands to her belly and wondered if more than just her identity was fading away. "I'm going for a walk."

"Oh!" Cho smacked her own forehead in exasperation. "I've been babbling when I should have been getting you into your shoes. Hold on! I'll only be a moment." She darted back through the door.

"Our library at the Western Hold is rather limited," Amayami called, standing on tiptoe to see Cho fling open the wardrobe. Lifting her brows, she wondered why Cho was content to play handmaiden, but decided speculation would be less taxing than an inquiry. "Sometimes I have to search all day to find something interesting enough to read."

"That Touga for you," Cho called back, hands on hips, huffing she scoured the room. "If it can't be used to gut someone, he doesn't care. Of course until recently he wasn't home enough to bother with a library. Now, where did I see your shoes?"

"I suppose," Amayami said, tilting her head back, watching the clouds billow across the sky that just yesterday was soggy and gray. The ground was sodden, but quickly drying the high noon sun and the air was warm. She sighed, pushing away her melancholy. It was too lovely a day to be stuck indoors.

"Rarely do I find anything in our library worth reading, but when I do, I read it aloud so I may commit it to memory. I would be tempted to do likewise here, should I find something interesting."

"Well, we have plenty of old scrolls here. Trunks of them, so maybe you'll find something," Cho began testily and then paused, grinning as comprehension set in. "I could leave a few in my sewing room."

When there was no reply, Cho turned and saw Amayami walking down the path, already halfway to the stables. Her long sleeves swung at her sides, fluttering with her hair in the breeze as her feet stepped so quickly that they barely touched the ground. Cho moved to the edge of the porch and leaned over the rail, watching as Amayami walked away on legs that longed to run.

"Hey, girl!"

Cho looked up and pushed her hair back from her face as Haru stepped from around the house. Grinning, he lifted the hoe he had been carrying and slung it over his shoulder. "Do we have any of that sake left over from the master's victory celebration?"

"Hmm." Cho pursed her lips, her eyelids heavy with skepticism. "I don't call the two of you drinking 'til dawn a celebration, but yes, we have plenty."

"Ah now, It wasn't jus' the two of us. I recall you drinking your fair share." Haru's grin broadened until dimples appeared in his lined cheeks. "An' it wasn't so much a celebration as a memorial to mark the end of the master's bad behavior."

"Do you really believe that?" Cho looked askance at him. "Do you really believe he'll be satisfied with just the West? Do you know what I heard the last time I visited Miyu-hime? People are convinced that as soon as his army is rested and replenished, he plans to invade the central plains."

"Fool talk," Haru muttered through gritted teeth. "There ain't nothing there but horses an' farmland." Even as the words left his lips, he had his doubts, and from the look on Cho's face, so did she.

"And the Marshlands were just a swamp," she reminded, plowing her hands through her hair before letting them fall limply to the wooden railing. "I know you love Touga, but I can't help… Oh, what possessed him to marry a girl so young?"

Haru wheezed a humorless laugh. Cho, for all her feigned sophistication, still held the ideals of the country folk at heart. "Eh, you know the daiyoukai and their politics. They're always worryin' about who's marrying who, blood purity, and all that doesn't mean nothing in the end. The Lady is Takayuki-dono's heir and has the backbone to prove it. It's a good match, 'specially since the master's already sweet on her."

Hands on hips, Cho bent at the waist, leaning forward until her nose was inches from her grandfather's. "That's another reason we don't need to be unfurling the victory banners."

Haru released a breath and it washed warmly over her face, stirring wisps of her silvery hair. "Banners?" Haru repeated, feigning innocence. "I didn't say a word about no banners. I'm jus' wanting a little sake with my supper."

Angling her chin, Cho scowled at the plot she saw forming in her grandfather's eyes. "You," she spat, poking his chest with one slender finger. "Just want to brag on Cousin, don't you?"

Haru blinked and confirmed her statement with a crooked grin. "An' what's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that?" she repeated, punctuating every word with a jab of her finger. "Oh, nothing, I'm sure Amayami-sama would love to hear all about how well Touga slaughtered her people."

"Damn girl! Stop it! You got fire-pokers for fingers!" Haru yelped, lifting his shoulders protectively as he rubbed his chest. "An' I wasn't gonna mention any of that. There is a lot more to the master than fighting and fucking."

"Try telling him that!" Cho pressed her lips together into fine line, silencing her unruly tongue. She had seen the tears Amayami had tried to conceal and was furious on her behalf. "He's a good person, Grandfather. He only chooses to be a bastard, and that makes him far worse."

"Aw, well," Haru muttered, staring down at his shuffling feet. Cho's tendency to speak the utmost truth was one of her best qualities and greatest faults. "You and him grew up together, so you got better insight into what he is. Me, all I know is what he could be."

Cho sighed loudly, throwing up her hands. "I swear you're as stubborn as a he-goat," she said with exasperated affection. Arguing with Haru would end in hurt feelings and little else. She looked at him down the bridge of her nose. "I have chores to do and that garden isn't going to weed itself. Go on you, and bring in some more ginger root when you're done."

"Careful, girl. You look just like your mama with your jaw stuck out like that." Haru chuckled as she softened her expression. "That's better. Ah, I'll get your roots for you. Talk sweet to me and I might find you some of those berries you're so fond of."

She slanted him a look. "The purple ones?" she asked, hooked. "It's awful early in the season."

"Yep, purple with the red splotches." Haru grinned as he pulled his straw hat down over his eyes. "Found some in that hot house I rigged up last fall. Them berries are your favorite, aren't they, girl?

She chewed her lower lip, trying not to smile. Mist berries! She had been craving those berries since the beginning of spring and her grandfather damn well knew it. "You know they are."

"I thought so." He peered at her from under the brim of his hat. "I might be able to gather a few. Sure is hot, thirsty work, though."

Cho released a sigh of defeat. "All right, all right," she said, shooing him away. "I'll leave you a jar in the kitchen, but only if you promise to go easy on the war stories."

"I was never in a war, so I got no tales to tale." Shrugging, he launched himself from the porch with surprising nimbleness. "I know plenty of other stories though." He gave her a measured stare. "You kids were a mess with all your fussin' and fightin'."

How very typical, she thought in exasperation and pursed her lips. "Are you telling me not to pick on my poor little cousin?"

"Naw, I ain't tellin' you nothing. If you got troubles with the master, then you work them out with the master. Me, I'm stayin' away from you two pit hounds."

"Very wise of you," Cho said, one corner of her mouth inching up. If Touga wanted a confrontation, she would gladly grant him one. In fact, she had been aiming for a fight since he arrived the night before. She sighed. As much as Touga infuriated her, they had been raised together, and were practically siblings. He was the favored son gone rotten, but she loved him nonetheless. "But I'm fairly sure you've already given him a dressing down he won't soon forget."

Just when Cho had begun to think he had forgotten how, Haru smiled. "Yeah, I gave him a talking to," Haru admitted, glumly. "Pity the rocks in his head rattle so loud he can't hear none. Well, I'll be gettin' out of your way, girlie. Be careful if you go near the stables. That dragon of the master's is right surly. Call me when supper's ready, will you?"

Cho nodded, watching as he ambled back towards to garden. "He hears, Grandfather," she said to herself as she slipped back into the empty bedroom. "He just doesn't listen."

Struggling to saddle Ichi-ni, Touga did not realize Amayami had entered the stables until she appeared beside him. He jumped involuntarily and dropped one of the bridles.

"Shit." He glowered down at the bridle before dropping the second at his feet. Meeting her eyes, he blew out a noisy, aggravated breath. "Whatever you need, go ask Haru or Cho."

Amayami raised a mocking eyebrow. "Yes, I'm certain Haru-san could explain why you're treating me like a whore." Turning on her heel, she stalked off, and was almost to the door when he lunged for her.

He grabbed her by the arm, pulling her into him, and for a moment they stood in silence, measuring. Her eyes were reddened from the tears she denied and his were dim with the uncertainties he could no longer conceal. Another moment passed, then another. Then for reasons she could explain to no one, much less herself, Amayami tilted her head and brushed her lips lightly against his.

Startled, Touga gasped, drawing in the barest wisp of her breath and felt a frisson of warmth rush through him as if he had just sipped a fine wine. It left him dazed and light-headed as he leaned down to take her mouth with his own. The kiss was tentative; teasing at first as hers had been, then grew powerful and commanding. His hands splayed against her back, pulling her closer as her hands slid up and around his neck.

"Perhaps, he could also explain why you've been avoiding me most of the day."

Her words sounded so much like an accusation that Touga almost shoved her away, but the underlying sorrow, the genuine hurt, in her eyes bade him to hold her close and press a soft kiss to bridge of her nose.

"I wasn't avoiding you," he murmured, pressing his forehead to hers. "You asked me to leave you alone."

Touga watched her expression grow distant, thoughtful in a way that he had once foolishly mistaken for apathy. Then she smiled, not the serene, practiced curl of lips she reserved for court, but the slightly crooked grin that was purely her own, and sank deeply into his arms. "So, I left you alone."

Amayami rubbed her cheek against his chest. Feeling the heat of his skin beneath his kosode made her wish she had taken Cho's suggestion to change clothes. She felt silly, like a little girl playing dress up in her bare feet and elaborate robes, and longed for her sturdy boots and better fitting clothes.

"Since when have you listened to me?" she muttered, wincing at the bitterness in her voice as she pulled away. She took three steps back, treading on her hems as she moved, and fixed her eyes upon the partially saddled dragon. "Where are you going?"

Touga crossed his arms over his chest and pressed his lips together in a firm, forbidding line. "I always listen. I just don't always agree with you," he said with a calculated charm that left her torn between smiling and gouging his eyes from their sockets. "I'm going investigate the bandits camped out in the forest."

"You mean kill them," she said, frowning in disdain as he threw a saddle blanket over Ichi-ni's broad back. "I thought Haru-san said they were only travelers."

Touga dismissed the first part of her statement. He was lord and the horse youkai were trespassers on his land. It was within his rights to deal with them in any manner he chose. He only wished the rationalization would allow him to meet Amayami's eyes. "Haru thinks the best of people, unless given a reason to believe otherwise." He forced his eyes to hers and smiled without humor. "Sometimes even after."

"And you believe that makes him foolish." Amayami scrutinized him with narrowed eyes and then, seeming to find her answer, she sighed and shook her head. She clucked her tongue twice and then jabbed a finger in the direction of the back pasture. "Ichi. Ni. Outside."

The dragon snorted, then lumbered towards the door without so much as a glance at Touga. As he watched the dragon trot out the open gate, tail waving happily, Touga gritted his teeth so hard they creaked. "You've ruined him."

"How so?" Amayami asked with faint amusement. "He's obedient and—"

"You've turned him into a pet!"

Amayami laughed and he wanted to strangle her. "Forgive me, Inu no taishou," she said, ice coating her voice. "I was raised to appreciate kindness over the lash." She looked away for a moment, and then stared back at him blankly. "I'm going home. If I ride quickly enough, I can still meet with the Northern Council."

Touga was silent for a moment, still seething with rage, but he realized that for once Amayami was not the source of his irritation. It was his mother, his father, this place and its memories.

"No, you're not," he said carefully, less sure than he had intended. "You hate my stronghold and if it weren't for that accursed treaty, you would have left the first time you didn't get your way."

Her eyes were empty pools in her pale face. "Do you honestly believe I care one whit about your treaty?" She closed the distance between them and cupped his cheeks in her hands. "I stay for the sake of my people."

Touga caught her arms and pinned them to her sides. His claws dug into the tender bend of her elbows. "Your people are mine. You are mine. You go where I tell you, when I tell you."

"You're already a bastard, Touga," she whispered, smiling nastily. "You don't have to play the fool as well."

She was baiting him, Touga realized, but fell into her trap regardless. Perhaps because the struggle to break free of her snare, although futile, was as pleasurable as being caught. "Who is more the fool, Inu no hime?"

Inu no hime was her official title, but she had always found it pretentious and redundant. Everyone knew who she was, and if a person did not, then he was either misinformed or beneath her notice. "Don't call me that," Amayami snapped, but was more entertained than irritated. "Unlike you, I don't need a title to feel important."

A thought flowed over Touga's features as he slid his hands down the length of her arms, grasping her fingers for a long moment before letting go. He stepped away and scooped Ichi-ni's abandoned saddle from the straw covered ground, holding it protectively against his chest. "So, what do you need?"

The question caught her off guard, but she decided to answer it anyway. "Oh, I…" She frowned, weighing her words, and decided there was little to be lost with the truth. If she could make him understand, it was worth an ounce of her pride, perhaps more. "I was lonely."

Touga hid his surprise by busying himself returning Ichi-ni's saddle to its stand. Inwardly he reeled, positively giddy at the prospect that Amayami might long for his company, but something told him there was more to her words. Nothing with Amayami was ever simple. "I thought Cho was with you."

Amayami stared at him for a moment, and he could sense that was measuring him, evaluating. "She was. And while I did enjoy her company this afternoon, she wasn't the one who fucked me on the floor."

Touga rolled his eyes skyward and counted slowly to ten. He should have known better than to leave Amayami with the one person that would encourage her unseemly behavior. "I see you two spoke."

"We traded a few words," she parried flatly, giving him a smoking glare over her shoulder. "You would have known that if you hadn't been sulking around out here."

"All right, Amayami," he said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "I promise to never listen to you again. Happy?"

Amayami cast another baleful glare over her shoulder. "You picked a strange time to start listening to me," she spat and fought the urge to truly lambaste him. She would not lower herself to caterwauling for his attention, but he would understand that avoiding her was inexcusable. "You should also realize that the last thing I wanted was to be left alone with a stranger."

Cursing beneath her breath, she closed her mouth with a click of her teeth and turned fully away from him. She heard the crunch of straw behind her and knew that Touga had stepped up behind her. He took her shoulders in his hands and gave them a little squeeze, silently urging her to continue. She sighed, and released her words in a rush of air. "Two months ago, every servant, every vassal within the territory was my sworn enemy."

"Including me?" Strangely, it hurt him to ask, even though he knew the answer.

She smiled softly, then lifted a hand and pretended to brush the hair from her eyes. Touga knew the gesture hid her need to brush her fingers over the moon mark on her brow. She always did that when worried or upset, which as of late was often. Her clawed fingers brushed against her hairline, lingering for a moment, then smoothed down her face to fall limply at her side. "Especially you."

Touga faltered then, although only a little, and reached around to take her hand. "I'm not your enemy," he said finally, helpless and wishing he could make her believe him. At the same time he knew that a few months ago, before her father's surrender and before the signing of the treaty, he would have killed her without a second thought. "And you're not mine."

To his amazement, she turned and pressed herself against him. "Are you certain?" she whispered, slipping her arms around his waist. "Most people think we'll kill each other before summer's end."

"We're not--"

Just then, Haru's voice, loud and echoing, as if he were standing within one of the stalls, boomed around them. "Lord!" he hollered from somewhere to the left. "If you want hot water tonight, you better get that wood chopped. Oh, and after you're done with that there's a leaky roof that needs fixin'"

Groaning, Touga looked shiftily from side to side as if he were planning to duck for cover. "Haru."

The corners of Amayami's mouth tugged upward as her eyes widened with a fake gasp. "Touga!" she chided in the same tone she would have used with Ichi-ni. "You're not hiding from Haru-san, are you?"

"No!" Touga stiffened, and then straightened to almost his full height before making a sound suspiciously like a whimper and sagging against her. "Don't let him find me!"

"My poor husband," she teased, stroking his head as if he were a pet. "He fought countless enemies and survived insurmountable odds, only to be felled by an old man with a rake."

Touga shifted easily, balancing his weight back and forth between his feet. The movement caused the neckline of her kimono to slip down over one shoulder, revealing an expanse of creamy flesh. He wanted to strip away her finery and run his hands over her, exploring each slender curve, but after this morning, he was fearful of hurting her again. Only Amayami could be both powerful and fragile. Just as only she could make him uncertain enough to doubt his every action.

"It's a hoe."

Amayami looked stricken. "No wonder you're hiding."

"I'm not hiding," he grinned, his eyes dancing. Despite his protests to the contrary, he loved when Amayami teased him. "I just don't want to chop wood or climb on the roof or pick berries or whatever else he thinks must be done before sunset."

"Hmm…I see. That's quite the problem. Unfortunately, I know nothing about fixing roofs. I don't know about you, but I'm rather fond of hot baths. So, I suppose, I'll chop the wood." As she spoke, she combed her fingers through his long silvery hair. "Of course, you could always tell Haru-san that those things will wait until tomorrow."

"Or I could take you to the village for your bath." When he looked up, she took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead. Her lips were warm and soft, flitting over his skin with the barest pressure. He knew it for what it was --a truce. For a fleeting moment, it occurred to him that he could deny her, and perhaps even should. She was sullen and argumentative, and she refused to give him a fraction of the respect he deserved. She was also lonely, sad, and although she mocked him ruthlessly, uncertain.

"It's behind the mountain," he murmured, wishing he could calm the anxiety lurking within her eyes. The people were once loyal to my father--"

Sunlight spilled into the dimly lit stables as the side door rattled open. With a wordless cry, Amayami grabbed Touga's hand and took to her heels, bolting just as Haru entered the stables. "Boy, I've been callin' you for an hour."

"Shit!" Touga laughed, as he was half-dragged at a run from the stables and into the meadow. She reared to left, speeding towards the estate proper, and he was again surprised by her sheer strength and agility. She was a good head shorter with a much smaller stride, yet it was all he could to keep up with her breakneck pace. A shiver of awe rippled through him as he wondered what sort of creatures could have spawned Amayami.

She stopped suddenly, hardly winded, and sprang to one side of one of the outer buildings, pressing her back flat against its wooden frame. She grew still and silent, the stance of a predator, listening to sounds in the distance. Then after a moment, she breathed a deep sigh of mock relief. "We lost him."

Before she could release his hand, he pulled her forward with such vigor that she fell into his chest. Wordlessly, he crushed her to him and sought her lips. Amayami returned his kiss with equal fervor, her heart pounding in her chest, but not from exertion. When his lips left hers, she could not resist teasing. "Do you kiss all your rescuers?"

Touga jerked his hand free, eyeing her as if he expected her to attack the moment his back was turned, and sidestepped out of reach. "No."

"Truly?" Amayami raised a skeptical brow, but her eyes glinted with amusement. "I suppose, you mean to tell me that you've never been so foolish as to fall into a situation beyond your abilities."

He gave a snort of laughter then rubbed his chin ruefully, watching her with intent eyes. "No one has ever been foolish enough to rescue me."

She had expected him to pout in that maddening way of his, but instead there was only grim amusement and very little boasting. Without a second thought, Amayami opened her arms and he went to her. True, he was the Inu no Taishou, the slaughterer of her people, but he was also Touga, and the man who was slowly worming her way into her heart.

"Then I suppose the duty falls to me."

With a harsh laugh, he turned his face into her neck, his breath warming her throat. He kissed the corner of her jaw and pulled away to look her in the eye. "You mean burden."

She gave a little sad smile, her eyes glittering and far away. "What's the difference? Duty is merely a burden with a noble end."

Touga began to speak, but stopped. There was no denying the subtle truth in her words. "And sometimes without."

"Most times without," she said, meeting his eyes, tone full of meaning. "If duty was always pleasant, it would have very little meaning."

Silence hung between them, heavy with things unsaid. He trailed a fingertip down her face, tracing the soft curve of her bottom lip. "Tell me how to make you happy, Maya. At least give me some hint. Everything I try is wrong."

There was sorrow in her eyes, and a little bit of anger, but mostly deep contemplation. "Let me see you," she said, after a long while, and then pressed her palm over his heart. "I want to know the man I was forced to marry."

He covered her hand with his, pressing her palm into his chest until she could feel the beating of his heart. For a moment, it felt as though she were holding his soundly beating heart within her palm. He held her eyes. "This is me."

When she tried to pull away, he kissed her, melding her body against his. A cold rush of resentment ached deep within her, but when his lips moved against hers with infinite tenderness, she crushed it ruthlessly. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," he murmured, lips moving along her throat in a whispered caress. "I'm nothing more or less than what stands before you."

He knew when she pulled away, smiling sadly and shaking her head, that he had disappointed her in some manner. Amayami perceived things in ways he could not fathom. At first, he had thought it because she was so young and headstrong. She was difficult to the point where the tactician within him knew that he would be better off relinquishing his claim on her. Send her back to the east or exile her with her father, anything so long as she was far, far away.

"If that were true, our lives would be so much easier," Amayami said, startling him from his reverie. "There is nothing in the treaty that states I must live in your home or even let you touch me—"

"It's a marriage contract, Amayami!" Touga snarled and jerked away from her, hating that she had voiced what he was thinking. He only wished he could read her half as well. "Touching you is implied!"

Amayami sucked in a breath, feeling the rush of air chill her teeth and tongue. So he paws me because he can, she thought wryly, wondering why she even considered otherwise. "I find it most peculiar that you would court the implications of a document you have consistently violated."

"Enough riddles, Amayami." Touga grit his teeth and growled at her. "Get to the point."

Anger boiled in her chest, but she managed to keep a straight face. "I'm not one of your whores to be browbeaten!" She paused to draw a calming breath, but it only served to further infuriate her. "Unless you truly wish me to believe you a fool, I shall assume that you simply overlooked the stipulation in which you swore to grant me your protection and loyalty!"

"And you swore to grant me your strength and courage," Touga said softly, holding her eyes, and then shrugged. "It's a typical marriage contract, Amayami. Formal, pretentious, and barely worth the parchment it's written on."

Her face fell, just slightly, but enough that he knew she had misinterpreted his words. What he meant to say was that their marriage contract was the foundation of their union, not the entirety. There might come a time when he would need her protection, just as surely as she would need his strength. He rolled the words in his mind, trying to form coherent sentences, but all his attempts failed. While he might claim to be more intelligent than most, he was at a loss when it came to Amayami.

"I see," Amayami spat at last, her voice explosive in the tense silence, her pale eyes flat and impenetrable. "It seems I know exactly where you stand!"

As she pivoted on her heel, Touga lurched for her and grabbed the ends of her long sleeves. "Let go," she hissed through clenched teeth, cursing him and her unruly clothes. She swiped at his wrist, purposely missing, but came close enough that he jerked back with a hiss. "I've had more than enough of you!"

They glared at each other for several moments, he cradling his uninjured wrist, while she smoothed her rumbled sleeve. Then she sighed and covered her face with one had. "You're driving mad."

Risking her wrath, and quite possibly his hand, he reached up and began to stroke her hair, feeling the silken strands glide between his fingers. "I don't want to fight with you."

"Then agree with me!"

Touga opened his mouth, a heated retort on his tongue, but stopped short and gaped at her. "I suppose," he bit out with some difficultly, keeping his eyes fixed warily on her.

Amayami's expression was surprised, but there was the start of a smile on her lips. He matched it, slowly at first, then broadening into a grin as her shoulders began to shake with uncontained giggles. "But then, that would be logical," she said, trying to rein in her laughter, but the more she tried, the harder it became.

"We can't have that, can we?" Touga asked, smiling, but serious, after her laughter had diminished to a few lonely chuckles. "I gather that it's my loyalty that's in question. When have I ever given you a reason to doubt?"

She smiled wryly. "Do you truthfully need to ask?"

"I'm a man, Amayami," he pointed out, holding up his hands in surrender, and grinned with an enough mischief that she rolled her eyes. "I have needs."

"Apparently one of your needs is to fuck every able-bodied female in the providence," she countered, raising a brow and smirking. "Of course, after this morning I find myself feel rather sympathetic towards your lovers."

His smile was not a friendly one. "Hold your sympathy until you've had more than one, Amayami."

"You're quite right," Amayami agreed with the greatest of clarity. "You were my first and only, so I have no standards from which to judge. So…" she paused, deliberately striving to irritate him. "When we return to home, I shall take a lover--"

His sudden, furious growl told her that she had succeeded far beyond her expectations, but she felt no triumph, only a dizzying sense of doubt. "Ichiro of the wolf clan is rather handsome, if a bit crude," she pressed on, smiling to hide her own distaste. "I'll wager he has amazing stamina. Then there is--"

"You're not to lay with other man for so long as I live!" Touga roared, caring little that he might be overheard. "Not with that mangy wolf youkai or anyone else! I could not bear it!"

"And yet, you expect me to endure your indiscretions," she said lightly, sensing the subtle shift in power his anger had brought, but she could not enjoy it for long. A moment later, shame washed over her and with it came the realization that she would never act upon her declaration. Touga was an undeniable bastard, but he was also her husband and the first man she had considered wanting. Perhaps for no other reason than he was the first man to dare to want her.

Slowly, Touga's voice came to her, cutting through the haze of her thoughts and she realized he had been speaking—raving in reality—the last several moments. She blinked at him, shaking her head and tried to pick up the thread of their conversation.

"Stamina," he seethed, spitting the word out as if it tasted foul. It was difficult to tell whether he was offended or simply baffled. "Just how do you know about the stamina of men?"

Amayami lifted her eyebrows to her hairline. For such a worldly man, Touga was bit of prude. "I've heard things," she said defensively, folding her arms over her chest. "As you recall, I did have a life before I married you."

Although he knew that he was Amayami's first and only, Touga was anything but convinced. The idea of another man just looking at her, much less touching her, left him incensed with jealousy. "Then, I should mind to whom you speak to from now on," he snapped carelessly. "I won't have others putting ideas in your head."

She laughed at him then, deeply scornful. "Oh, Inu no Taishou, it would take more than your dim witted lackeys sway my thinking." She covered her mouth with her hand, hiding her smile, but her eyes continued to glare. "I might be a princess, but I was raised on the battlefield with soldiers as my constant companions. I've heard things that would make would make even you blush."

He drew close to her and laid his hands on her arms. When she tilted her head up to look at him, his lips claimed hers. The kiss was hard and commanding at first, then grew in tenderness as the moments passed. Eagerly, she slipped her hands into his kosode, feeling his warm skin, the hard planes of his chest beneath her fingers. Her hips melded against his, her welcome unmistakable.

"You won't take a lover," he murmured, nuzzling her trembling lips, his voice full of male confidence. He bent his head to kiss the place where her pulse jumped. "It's me you want. We both know that."

"Are you certain?" she murmured, challenging even as felt her traitorous body readying for him. "Perhaps your lust has blinded you to the truth. You haven't exactly been subtle with your intentions."

"When I see something I want, I try to acquire it by any means necessary." He shrugged at her obvious distaste. "Why waste time dallying when you can just take what you want and be done with it?"

"Yes," she said, drawing out the word, "which explains why you're known for flinging women into bed by their hair."

Touga had the good grace to look abashed. "It was one time, with one girl, and if you had met Aya you would have understood," he grumbled.

He turned away to glare at Cho, who was hanging laundry in the distance. "I can't believe she told you." Or rather he could, because Cho was a meddlesome old hag, and had been since they were both children.

Naming himself a fool, he sighed and turned back to face Amayami. "What else did she say?" he asked, using his most cordial smile.

"Cho?" Amayami smiled, obviously not convinced. "Very little, or quite a lot, I have to admit I wasn't really listening. Although, she seems to feel rather strongly that you don't treat me as well as I deserve."

"And you agree?"

Her smile was all the answer he required. "Amayami, you share my lands and title, my wealth and reputation." He stepped forward, towering over her, and grit his teeth. "You are the princess of the dog clans and the future mother of my child! I'm not going to replace you with some bitch that happens to stumble in and out of my bed!"

As he spoke, tears escaped from her, chasing each other down the curves of her cheeks. She hiccupped a sob, and then swallowed the next, refusing to allow it to be uttered. "You really don't understand do you?" she asked, looking into his widened eyes. Her voice was broken, defeated, and so very hollow.

Stunned, he eased his hand behind her neck and gently pulled her closer. She stumbled, moving stiffly towards him, but not completely resisting. She stared at him for a moment, eyes wide and glassy, and then pressed her body against his.

"Shh," Touga murmured and stroked her hair, whispering tiny words of endearment as her breath came in staggered gasps. After a moment, when she had calmed, he realized he was whispering things his mother used to croon to him. In that moment, he recalled his mother's hands, her loving touch when he was too young to spend much time at his father's side. "I don't think I've ever seen you cry."

"I'm not crying!" she snapped, shoving away with a curse. Her eyes were fierce, denying the tears drying on her cheeks. "And I don't care who or what you fuck! You can start screwing that dragon of yours for all I care!"

Touga almost choked, but recovered quickly. "Forgive me," he said in a measured ending in a hiss. He knew her words were little more than irrational ravings, but they stung regardless. "Forgive me if I have misinterpreted every third conversation we've had since our wedding day!"

She snorted, giving him her back. "Leave me alone."

"I would," he said, stepping around to face her. He grinned when she turned, once again, and then again and again, each time he moved in front of her. "But as you recall, the last time I did you nearly chewed my head off."

She laughed just a little at that and covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes far away. "I don't know what I want anymore."

Touga took a deep breath, relieved that she had calmed, and was at once lanced by guilt. He never thought he could drive her to tears. "If my concubines truly bother you so much—"

"Keep them," she said without emotion. "Hire a dozen more. I don't care. They're the least of our problems and I've wasted far too much time fretting over them."

"It's about fuckin—" he stopped gloating forcibly, uncertain of his victory, and made a helpless gesture with his hands. "Then what's wrong? Speak plainly, Amayami. You're talking in circles."

"That's because my thoughts are chasing each other." One corner of her mouth hitched up in the parody of a smile. "Part of me says we're moving far too fast."

He captured her hand in his, nestling his thumbs in her palms. "And?"

The rest of me loves it when you kiss me, she thought, and then shoved it aside to embrace one that was far more painful. "I realize now that I obsessed over your concubines so I wouldn't have to think about how you murdered my people."

"It was war-"

"And that makes it right in your mind?" Amayami thumped his chest with enough force to bruise. Her eyes were fierce, denying the tear tracks on her cheeks. "You hunted men, women, and children down like animals! You slaughtered entire refugee camps, searching for one person who might hold a bit of information! Every day of every week, I would fend off your soldiers, not from military targets, but from farms and temples! From any place my people could have found hope or some semblance of normalcy! When you couldn't crush their bodies, you tried to crush their spirits! And I swore that if I ever found you, I'd cut your throat and drive a knife through your black heart!"

"Amayami!"

Someone was screaming, grinding at her frazzled nerves, and Amayami was only dimly aware that it was her. "Damn it," she rasped, her breasts heaving as she took in great gasps of air. With her rage gone, there was only grief and bone-deep confusion. "Why can't I hate you?"

The ensuing silence was more painful than any words he could have said. Amayami stood perfectly still, indignation and misery warred within her as Touga watched her with quiet contemplation.

When he finally spoke, his voice was bland. "After that, I'm not convinced that you don't." He raised his hand, silencing her protest. "The past is past, Amayami. There is nothing I can do to change it."

"I know you can't." She looked at him, eyes bright and thoughtful, and for a moment, he thought he saw a flash of pity in her expression. "Just like I can't forget and won't pretend I have. Not any more. I was forced to accept you as my husband, but I know what you are."

Her eyes followed his down to her bare toes peeking out from under the muddy hem of her kimono. "Shit!" she gasped, hiking up her kimono almost to her knees. During her seemingly nonstop argument with Touga, she had completely forgotten that she was barefoot. It was such a trivial thing, but after today, enough to make her throat tighten with tears.

Touga stared at her for a moment, looking as lost and as vulnerable as she felt, then scooped her up into his arms. She began to protest, then simply sighed and secured her arms around his neck. Her anger was like flash fire-- quick, painful, and over in an instant.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Remaining infuriatingly silent, Touga carried her around the building and through an open doorway at the top of a short flight of steps. Amayami twisted around in his arms, surveying her surroundings, as he slid the door closed behind them with his foot. The room was perfectly square and with tall narrow windows paned with exotic colored glass. Woven mats and a multitude of brightly colored cushions carpeted the wooden floor, mirroring the colors in the windows like jewels. It was beautiful and unlike anything Amayami had ever seen.

Bit by curiosity, she tried to wriggle free from Touga's arms, but he held her fast, refusing to budge. She tensed in part from anticipation as he lowered her to the pile of cushions near the back window. She tried to rise almost immediately, but he firmly sat her back down.

"Stay," he commanded, laying a finger across her lips. "I'll be right back."

After he had strode from the room, closing the behind him, she allowed herself fall back amongst the soft cushions. She closed her eyes, feeling the edge of exhaustion eat away at consciousness. Sleep called to her, but she resisted, her mind too preoccupied to succumb. She pressed a hand over her breast, feeling the rapid beat of her heart, and wondered if it were breaking. Things would be so much easier if she could still hate him.

When she heard the door slid open, then closed again, she propped herself up on her elbows and frowned at Touga. He stood a few feet from her, holding an ancient bucket with one hand, his expression gentle as she had ever seen.

"Where are your shoes?" he asked.

The question brought a flush to her cheeks and made her feel like a disobedient child. "In the house," she admitted, hiding her muddy feet beneath the equally muddy hem of her kimono. "I didn't expect the ground to be so wet."

"That usually happens the morning after a storm." He set the bucket down beside the cushions, and only then did she realize it was half filled with water. Then he knelt beside Amayami and grasped her foot before she could scoot away. Using a rough square of cloth, he began to wash the mud and grime from her feet and ankles. She watched him, fascinated, as he dipped the rag into bucket and squished it around.

"They'll just get muddy again when I go outside." She made a delighted sound, half-laughter, half-squeal, as he trailed a finger down her instep. His thumb traced the ball of her foot, rubbing in firm circles down to her heel. Then he lifted both her feet together and kissed her ankles.

He lowered her feet back to the pillows, gently as if they were precious, fragile things. "Cho can probably get those stains out of your hems," he said, barely looking at her. "She's good at that sort of thing."

An awkward silence fell between them, thickening as the seconds ticked past. He tried to fill his mind with nothing, with nonsense and small talk, but his thoughts wrapped themselves back to Amayami. He had wronged her, had caused her to suffer unimaginable agony, and had nearly crushed her spirit.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he dismissed it, finding it utterly laughable. His gaze turned to hers as she touched her fingers to the stripe on his cheek. There was no hardness, no grief, in her eyes, only calculated interest. His arms reached up to circle her neck as she drew closer. Their mouths melded together, bodies pressing with desperate hunger. No, Amayami was nowhere near defeated, but rather he had been conquered. She had won.

Without hesitation, he gave into her kiss, exploring with his tongue until her taste mingled with his. When she jerked his kosode up, he stilled, not in rebuke, but in anticipation. Her hands slid under his clothes, claws trailing briefly along his rib cage. Then, she parted his kosode and pushed it off his shoulders, allowing it to drape messily over his elbows. She kissed his bare shoulder, his collarbone, before sliding her hands down his chest, feeling the taut muscles jump beneath his skin.

His hands circled her waist, thumbs massaging the sleek muscles of her belly. He lowered his mouth and kissed her, long and lingering. His heartbeat quickened, seeming to keep pace with hers. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

She drew closer to him, sculpting her body around his, entwining her fingers in his hair. "So should've I."

Then her mouth was on his and his hands were on her body, peeling away her clothes as she tore impatiently at his. There were no more words, nothing, but them.

On the outskirts of the forest, downwind from the sensitive noses of the inu youkai he watched, Daisuke shivered and stretched awake. The embers of the meager campfire Keiji had built that morning glowed a dull crimson and offered only the barest amount of warmth. He rubbed his jaw, feeling the rough stubble on his chin. "How long was I asleep?"

"A few hours," Keiji answered as he stepped out from behind a tree. He sat down beside Daisuke and spent a moment stoking the dying fire. It crackled and sizzled, then after much coaxing blazed to life. "Go back to sleep. It'll be dark in a few hours."

"Then it'll be over. One way or another," Daisuke murmured to himself, squinting through the tree, and then heaved a heavy sigh. "At least it quit raining."

Keiji's lips creased in a worried frown. "Now that the storm has blown over, it'll be more difficult to conceal our presence," he pointed out. "We're camped far enough away where they probably won't consider us an immediate threat, but you know, as well as I do, how territorial inu youkai can be."

"Hearsay and nonsense," Daisuke snorted and made a throw away gesture in the direction of the manor. "We say they're territorial and they claim we're all yokels."

"They wage war," Keiji warned, his voice low and his eyes narrowed, "and we raise crops."

Daisuke slumped back against the tree, the corners of his mouth hitching upward. "Ah, I was wondering when you'd be back to your old self. You don't have to come along, Keiji. In fact, I wish you wouldn't. If something goes wrong, I want you to keep searching for Umeko. I owe it her to find out what happened."

Keiji felt his face harden. "We've been over this before. You might be lord, but you're still a boy. I'm not about to let you wander the countryside, getting into trouble. Your late mother would be scandalized."

Daisuke beamed. "And you've done an admirable job so far." His smile faded about the edges and some of the light left his eyes. "Do you think Umeko is okay? I mean, I know she's probably scared, but…"

Keiji closed his eyes, suddenly pained by the knowledge that every answer he could offer condemned his young master to certain death. "Your sister is a young girl," he began, weighing each word, "but she's strong and very bright."

"But there were so many soldiers. They killed father and burned the manor and fields. How could she have survived?"

If there was one thing Keiji could not bear, it was the lost expression in Daisuke's eyes. Now that his father was gone, Umeko had become Daisuke's world, his tenuous hold on sanity. False hope was better than none.

"We didn't find her," Keiji reminded him, animated despite the cold pit in his stomach. "Not in the manor and not in the back fields were she always used to play. We didn't find any signs of a struggle."

"The fire," Daisuke whispered hoarsely. "We didn't find her body after the fire."

"No," Keiji said slowly, drawing the word out to hide his doubt. "We didn't"

Daisuke smiled brokenly, seemingly renewed. "Then she is alive. She has to be."

Keiji wavered slightly, but it might have just been the unsteady light of the campfire. "Perhaps we should look for her ourselves. Abandon this fruitless enterprise before those daiyoukai realize we're here and travel north. It's doubtful this creature you bargain with knows anything. If he did, why keep it from you? What does he have to gain by concealing your sister's whereabouts?"

"He's a daiyoukai." Daisuke smiled and shoved himself to his feet. "It's what they do."

Keiji squared his shoulders and leveled his sharp eyes at him. "That's exactly why you should not be dealing with such a creature! We should leave now, before these dogs realize we're here—"

"They already know." Daisuke smiled as Keiji went pale. "We're just not important enough to bother with." He sighed, closing his eyes, steeling himself. "How much of that sleep weed do we have?"

Keiji scrubbed at his face with one hand, clearly agitated. "Plenty, several dozen sprigs at least. I'll make the tisane when we have her secured. The longer it sets, the less potent it becomes."

Daisuke nodded in understanding. "Just don't make it too strong. We don't want to kill her."

A smile curled at Keiji's lips that could have been weary or bemused, it was impossible to tell. "I worry that it won't be strong enough. Don't think for a moment that the girl is weak, simply because she's female."

"I'm not some dumb human," Daisuke snorted, lifting his upper lip in a grimace. "If the tisane doesn't work, we can always knock her out the old fashioned way." He smacked is his fist into his palm, smirking. "Crude, but effective."

Keiji knew he should not encourage Daisuke, but there was no stopping the grin spreading across his face. "You're going to get through this, Daisuke. I won't let you die."

Daisuke's eyes dulled a little. "Dying would be too easy." He shrugged off Keiji's unvoiced protest and started off into the forest. "I'm going to walk south to get a closer look. I want the men assembled by sunset."

"Yes, Daisuke-sama," Keiji murmured as he watched him disappear into the forest.

"Keiji-dono?"

He rolled his head back, staring at the sky peeking through the leafy canopy above them. "Yes, Taro?"

"I'm done scouting."

"And?" Keiji prompted, angling a glance over his shoulder. If matters were less grim, he might have smiled. The boy rocked back and forth on his heels, exuding enthusiasm. His shock of flame-colored hair was standing straight up and tangled with weeds. Taro looked as though he had run headlong through the underbrush. And knowing Taro, as Keiji well did, he probably had.

"There is a settlement on the other side of the mountain," Taro reported dutifully. He paused to wipe the sweat from his freckled brow. "More dogs, I think, but I couldn't get close enough to smell them."

"That's fine," Keiji said shortly, drawing his knees up under his chin. It probably was not the most dignified of things to do, but considering what he was going to do in just a few short hours, this was no time to split hairs over decorum. "Anything else?"

Taro vigorously shook his head and then blushed, realizing that Keiji was facing away from him. "Nu uh," he stammered, nervously plucking bits of grass and dirt from his yukata. "I mean, there's nothing in either direction within a day's ride."

Keiji watched the fire for a moment, watching the flames crackled and snap as they ate at the last of the kindling. "It's the perfect setting for an assassination," he mused aloud. "A little too perfect."

"Keiji-dono?"

"It's nothing, Taro." Keiji waved the boy off. "Go scout along the west end. If you see Yoshi, tell him I want to speak with him."

Taro gave a quick bow, before darting back into the thick foliage. Daisuke was lord and so the men obeyed him, but over the last few days, they began to look to Keiji for guidance.

Keiji ran his hands through his hair, grabbing fistfuls and pulling. They all, including Daisuke, expected him to keep them alive. But how could he when faced with two daiyoukai, and another who would surely hunt them down if they failed?

But he had to. Somehow he had to thwart a most certain defeat and see Daisuke safely to his aunt in the north. He owed that much to Daisuke's father. But first, he had a tisane to prepare.