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IN LOVE AND WAR
CHAPTER SEVEN: REUNITED
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Fourteen-year-old Tomoko noh Yakuni smiled timidly at Baron Cooper. She spoke the common tongue, but not very well. The Baron had been patient and kind throughout the journey. After the horrible slaughter of her parents, Tomoko had been smuggled aboard a trade ship to Scanra. After the ship left the northern port, it sailed south to Tortall's Port Emralín. Here Baron Cooper had met Tomoko with a letter from her sister.

The rest of the journey to Corus was slowed because Tomoko wasn't used to riding horseback, but at last they caught a glimpse of the sprawling city. Now Tomo and Baron Cooper parted ways, at the door to her sister's chamber. Tomoko had missed her sister from the day she'd left to marry Prince Roald. To see her again would bring Tomo much happiness, and maybe even put an end to the nightmares she'd had since she'd seen her parents die.

Tomo reached out her hand and knocked.

…..

Shinkokami propped up sat up in the big, soft bed. She'd just finished a bowl of soup, Roald watching her like a mother hen. Their agreement was that she could hold the baby after she ate her supper. She pushed the empty bowl away and held out her arms. Roald laid the cooing child in her mother's arms and settled down beside them.

They had worried about Baby Lianokami for the first two days of her life, but they hadn't needed to. She was born about two weeks early and was as healthy as any full-term baby.

"Hello, Lia," Roald cooed as he gently changed her diaper. Shinko watched, smiling contentedly. When Lia was changed, Roald leaned over Shinko's bed, kissing her gently. A knock interrupted their mood.

"Not more nobles come to pay their respects," Shinko mumbled. For the past few days they'd barely had a moment's peace between the well-wishers, gift-givers, and healers.

Roald, still holding the baby in one arm, rose and opened to door to reveal a beautiful young Yamani lady. She looked very much like Shinkokami, but younger and her eyes were green instead of brown. Roald moved aside to let her in. The girl met his wife's eyes.

"Shinko!" she cried, running to the bedside. She began to sob, red-faced with shame and sorrow. Shinko held her sister, rubbing her back and whispering that she was safe. Roald bowed his head and retired to the nursery with Baby Lia.

Shinko let her sister cry. When she was quiet, Shinko wiggled down beside her to give her a hug.

"Tell me what happened," she whispered in Yamani. She knew that Tomoko was more comfortable with their native tongue.

"I was there, Shinko. Mother hid me beneath a bed, and I heard the soldiers come in. they must have killed Father in another room, but I heard Mother die. She didn't plead for her life or weep. She was like stone. I heard the sword whish through the air, and I heard it cut off her head. There was a lot of blood, and I saw her head roll across the floor, Shinko. It was so awful. I didn't know what to do. I hid there for two days before Yuki's husband came and smuggled me down to the harbor and onto a trade ship."

"I'm so sorry," Shinko said quietly. She sat up, leaning into her pillows. "This is all my fault. I should have come back."

"No, you made a good choice, Shinko. You had a baby, and I really want to meet her," Tomo said, sitting up and hugging her knees. Shinkokami grinned and called to her husband.

"This is Baby Lianokami," Shinko said, lifting the baby from Roald's arms. She cuddled the sleeping child for a moment, and then passed her on to Tomoko. Shinko's sister smiled happily.

"She's very pretty. I think she looks like her father," Tomo said. She lifted her eyes from the baby to her sister's husband. "It's very nice to meet you, Roald."

Roald nodded kindly. "I think you'll be happy here, Tomoko. Your sister makes everyone around her smile."

"I know," Tomoko said, looking back at her sister. "Mother would be very proud of you."

Shinko grinned in a very un-Yamani fashion.

"I'm glad you're here, Little Neko." Tomoko sat up.

"That reminds me," she said. "Yuki helped me get Miyazaki on the ship."

Shinko's smile widened. "Where is she?"

"Who is Mi—Mizaki?"

"Miyazaki is my cat, Roald. She's a Yamani bob-tail. I left her behind when I came here. She was just a kitten."

"Well she's all grown up now," Tomo said. "She doesn't like it, but she's in a basket with my things. Baron Cooper said it would be taken to my room, but I don't know where that is."

"It's two doors down," Roald began. "The room used to belong to my sister, Kalasin. We thought you'd be comfortable close to Shinko. Come, I'll show you. "

While they retrieved the cat, Shinko rocked her daughter, but her wait was not long. Roald came behind Tomoko, carrying a large reed basket. Roald set the basket down on the foot of the bed, and Tomo gently undid the tie that held the lid-flap in place. She opened it, then gasped.

"Shinko! Look at Zaki!"

Shinko peered into the basket. Zaki was lying on a soft bed of cloth, surrounded by three freshly born kittens.

"You didn't know?" Shinko asked, petting the smallest baby with two fingers.

"I just thought she was getting fat from all the rats she caught on the ship," Tomo said. "I didn't realize there were babies. They must have been born just now."

"Aw, your kitty is a mama, just like you," Roald teased. Tomo stroked a feeding kitten's tail, hiding yawns.

"To bed, Tomo," Shinko said. "You need a good sleep, as does Zaki."

Roald summoned a maid to help Tomo bathe and find her a suitable nightgown. Finding a maid wasn't a hard task, as they hovered in the corridor, waiting for a chance to glimpse the baby.

"Her 'things' consist of one spare dress and a book of proverbs," Roald whispered later, after they'd said goodnight. "She only brought what she could stuff in her pockets."

"There wasn't time for more," Shinko said. "Besides, your mother will enjoy pampering her."

…..

Two weeks later, Shinko sat in the courtyard with her baby, watching Tomo practice her glaive with Kel and Queen Thayet. Tomo was good with the weapon; even Kel landed on her bottom. At first she had been skiddish with the queen, but she lost that quickly.

Near the end of practice, the queen exchanged the baby for the pretty shusuken she had tucked into her belt. Shinko neared her sister and her friend, tossing the fan into the air. Kel caught it and passed it onto Tomoko. After awhile, they stopped thinking about the game; their bodies remembered.

"How does it fare with your sergeant," Shinko asked, adding another fan, a green one, to the pink one in the air.

Kel smiled, passing the green shusuken on.

"We're very happy together," she said simply. Shinko glanced at her sister. She was concentrating on the pink fan as Kel gave the green one an extra twirl, and added a gray-blue one. The colors danced above their heads. Much like the first time she had played the game they had an audience, though this one was much smaller, and it's members had enough sense not to try and grab the fans from mid-air.

Roald, Sir Gary, and the King, taking a break from their business, now joined the queen. Sergeant Dom and three of his squad members who'd been sparring in another courtyard stood nearby.

Turning red, Kel gave the command for the game to come to an end. Each fan jumped across the circle one last time before being gracefully caught and closed. Shinko smiled, breathless with the effort from the game.

Domitan came behind Kel, wrapping his arms around her and telling her that she was beautiful. It was odd to see Kel accept such a display of affection in public, but Shinko knew she loved Dom. From Roald's raised eyebrows, Shinko knew he saw the love too. He clapped Dom on the back.

"Let me be the first to threaten you," Roald said. "After all, there are plenty of us who won't stand to see Kel hurt."

"Why do you think I didn't purse the relationship when she was a squire?" Dom mumbled.

Tomoko wandered to Shinko's side. She held Princess Lia.

"I'm glad I came here," she said quietly. "It's so strange to see all the smiles and the happiness, but I like it. I didn't dream about them last night."

Shinko smiled, brushing Tomo's silky hair out of her eyes. Her sister had told her of her nightmares involving their parents' death.

"That's wonderful," she said, letting her arm rest around her shoulders. "I'm glad you're happy here."

They turned at the sound of a page-boy running down the path. He stumbled and fell, scraping both knees through his hose, but he got up and kept running to the king.

The boy gave a bow, breathless with effort. Roald sat him on a stone bench, pressing a cooling healing hand to each knee and the matching scraped chin.

Jonathan kneeled beside him.

"What is it, Page Bryan," he asked gently.

"Two battleships, Sire, they attacked Port Caynn at dawn."

"The colors?" Sir Gary asked.

Shinko knew the answer before she heard it.

"Yamani."