Touke took a long breath to center herself.

They had been in Kokumei's home palace, headquarters of the alliance against the Chousai, for a couple weeks now. Touke had begun her education some time ago. Mostly they were all things she would need in the coming war—tactics, military hierarchy, things like that. Kokumei had also been giving her little introductions into politics, but never anything too in depth. Aku was, of course, slowly teaching her how to read and write. One of her lessons she found particularly enjoyable: she was being taught to fight. Kokumei and her subordinates had said, quite emphatically, that hinman couldn't do everything, so she should learn to pull her weight.

The help given by the hinman was speeding things up considerably. Touke, more than just learning the simple motions and stances and footwork of swordplay, was learning to direct the way the hinman moved her. With this, she could turn the fight in the direction she wanted. The hinman warned her that this could back her into a corner, but she was pretty sure her elementary knowledge of tactics would keep her from doing something too stupid.

Pinkon, which Touke thought was a silly sounding azana, was her sword instructor. He was bigger than her, with black hair in a braid much like her own, and razor-sharp black eyes. For practice they used these bamboo swords, which she knew there was a proper name for, but nobody had ever told her what it was. They just tossed the things at her to start the sparring match. They had gone a couple rounds already. Touke had one welt on her arm today. Pinkon must be pretty good to beat a hinman, but she was in these lessons because people like him existed in the first place. As usual, she had an audience. Whenever they had a sparring match, soldiers would gather to watch. Touke had been a little worried about this at first, that she would seem weak, but Kokumei had said it was actually a good thing for high-ranking soldiers—generals, commanders, the kind of people who would be up here—to see her as just an ordinary woman. The lower ranks, for some reason, didn't receive the same treatment.

Just as she was wondering how long Pinkon was going to take just sitting there, he moved. It still surprised her how fast he moved. But even as he started, a sensation like freezing water running down her limbs did exactly that, and her body started to move to intercept. The hinman—his name was Koubochi—moved her arm to intercept. The bamboo clashed with a loud crack above her head. On her own she stepped to the side and loosened her wrist, letting the remainder of the momentum of the strike carry to her left , then twisted, directing Koubochi to attack on the inside. Three rapid slashes came out of her, each raising a noisy smacking sound.

Pinkon let out a laugh as he blocked the third strike. "Good!" he shouted with his usual raucous energy. "Give me more!" he said, coming forward with a few rapid attacks of his own.

After trading blows a few times, with a loud slapping sound, Touke got a hit against his side. As usual, he barely seemed to notice; he was a tough guy. A few more and Touke got another hit, a stab straight at his chest. He was out of breath for a few seconds, dropping to his knees and clutching at his chest. Touke was worried she had hurt him, but he rose soon enough. They kept going for a while, Touke getting hit after hit on him. That whole afternoon he didn't get another hit on her. She felt a smile wider than her usual on her face.

"Getting confident, are we?"

Touke recognized that voice. She and Pinkon stopped swinging at each other, and they both turned to the direction the voice had come from. Kokumei was standing there with her arms crossed, an enormous grin on her face. To Touke's surprise, Aku was at her shoulder, looking a little pale. She guessed she wasn't all that surprised. It was almost time for them to have their supper, but it was still odd for Aku to come here. Here was Kokumei's little practice area. It was mostly open, with dirt floors, various weapons arrayed against two nearby walls. This was where Kokumei and her generals kept themselves fit and ready to fight at a moment's notice. She had never actually seen Kokumei here, though. "Lord Governor," she said, as she always called Kokumei when others were around.

"She is getting pretty good," said Pinkon. "She's improved a lot these weeks."

"Having a hinman is cheating. If she didn't have him, she would still be a beginner."

"I don't have time to be a beginner," Touke said with a shrug.

"I suppose that's true." Kokumei held out her open hand toward Pinkon. He tossed his bamboo sword into the air, and Kokumei turned her wrist, smoothly catching it. "But I don't like that confident smirk. If you will, Your Highness."

Touke wasn't sure what to think about this. Kokumei hadn't been a general for a long time. But her generals showed her the kind of deference that could only be gained by being able to kick their asses. And Kokumei had had several hundred years to get good at it. Even with her hinman, she wasn't sure she'd be able to win. Don't give up yet, Koubochi whispered in her head. One hit on her will be a victory. Show her everything we have. Touke nodded.

"You ready?" said Kokumei, with her sometimes-seen predatory smile on her face. It was a curl in the lip, a twinkling in the eyes, tempered by absolute confidence.

Touke nodded again. "Whenever you are."

If she had thought Pinkon moved fast, he was nothing compared to Kokumei. Koubochi moved her hand to the side and up to catch a slash before she could clearly see what was happening. Her hits weren't as hard as Pinkon's but they were faster, she discovered as a few more came nearly faster than Koubochi could get her body to move. Then a stinging, throbbing pain sprung to life on her off shoulder. She winced, taking a few steps back, clutching at the pain. She looked up to see Kokumei standing there, still smiling. "Dead. Round one to me." She raised her sword again.

A few more blows. Then she got hit in the hip. Then in the opposite side. Across the chest. On her arm, hard enough it was hard to hold her sword. All of the hits stung and pounded hard enough she was losing concentration. With Koubochi helping her along, it didn't keep her back too much, but she was getting worse. This was no clearer than when Kokumei slipped past her guard and punched her in the face with her fist holding the sword. Pain blossomed enough that her vision turned white, and she felt something snap. Her head started ringing. Kokumei swept her feet out from under her, and Touke came crashing heavily to the ground. She was so exhausted and sore from having the shit beat out of her she wasn't sure if she'd be able to get up.

"No!" came Aku's voice, sounding near tears. "I stood by because you asked me to, but I can't take this anymore! Stop it! Stop it now!"

"It's okay, Aku Taiho," said Kokumei. "I think I've made my point. Sit up if you please, Your Highness."

Using a good portion of the strength remaining in her limbs, Touke pushed herself up to her knees. Her face felt strangely warm. She leaned back to look up. Directly in front of her was Aku. As Touke watched, she froze in apparent shock, then seemed to be turning green. "Aku Taiho?" Kokumei came to Touke's front side, and took her in. "Your Highness, your nose is bleeding." She walked over to Aku, grabbed her by the shoulders, and turned her around so she was looking away. Kokumei told Aku to go to Touke's rooms, that she would send her along shortly, and the Kirin wandered off a little unsteadily.

That would be why her face was so warm. With her sleeve, she wiped at her face. Her sleeve came away dark and bloody. She probably shouldn't have done that. She wasn't used to wearing silk. Soon Kokumei was in front of her. She prodded at Touke's nose, enough to make her wince. "It's not actually broken, just a little bent. It should stop bleeding before too long."

"Don't feel too bad, Your Highness," came Pinkon's voice.

"Nobody can beat the Lord Governor," said one of the soldiers who had stopped to watch.

A slight smile was on Kokumei's face, as she squeezed Touke's nose shut, directing her to lean her head back. The pressure hurt a little. "You'll need to get cleaned up before you can see Aku." She waved with her free hand in a direction Touke assumed a servant to be. "Get a change of clothes and some water from Unkai."

"Why?" asked Touke, her voice strangely nasal.

"You saw how she reacted. Kirin are afraid of blood. Very afraid. If they touch it they can get sick, so you'll have to get cleaned up."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Aku told me of one time she got blood on her face. She didn't leave bed for a week."

Touke felt her face shift into one of shock, which tugged at her nose a little strangely. "Wow. I knew they didn't like blood, but I didn't think it was that bad."

"Kirin are frail creatures." Kokumei waited for a while, but Touke really didn't have anything to say. She was too busy fighting a sudden terror that something would happen to her frail little Kirin. After a moment she realized that wasn't what Kokumei was waiting for. She let go of her nose, and studied it for a while. "I think it stopped bleeding already. Go get cleaned up. Aku and dinner will be waiting for you by the time you get back." Before Touke could get up, Kokumei's hand came down on her shoulder. "I didn't want to hurt you. But I think you have to understand. No matter how good you get, there will always be someone better. If you meet someone on the field who moves like me, sic Aku's shirei on them, or just flee if you can. You and your hinman aren't ready for people on my level. I just wanted you to be aware." She helped Touke to her feet. "You shouldn't be too worried, though. People like me are few and far between. But you have to be aware." Touke nodded.

All awhile getting cleaned up, she couldn't stop thinking about Aku, about how she couldn't fight, how even touching blood would make her very ill. No wonder Aku couldn't fight, even if she'd wanted to. No wonder she needed shirei to protect her. No wonder she had to run out of the meeting, that even the sight of weapons terrified her.

She vowed to herself to never let her little Kirin see blood again.


Aku paused in her writing, considering her options.

Touke had made a lot of progress in her reading and writing. It seemed, if Touke only set her mind to something, she was a very quick study. Aku sifted through her library of characters in her mind, considering which ones would be most relevant for Touke's future life running the government, which were most important to learn. It was a pretty long list. She selected a few she hadn't gotten to yet, and wrote them down. One of those anxious thoughts occurred to her again. She squeezed her eyes shut.

The first battle of the war was coming. Touke had gone with Kokumei to the head of one of their armies, soon to assault a prefectural capital in An Province—they hadn't even told her which one. She supposed they didn't want her to imagine it. She could still imagine well enough what would happen. Touke at the head of an army with her detestable sword drawn, light shining off hundreds of similar weapons. Two armies clashing with each other, blood in the air. Touke being struck through the neck and choking on her own blood. Aku squeezed her eyes tighter. No, she couldn't think about it. She shouldn't. Touke had her shirei. She would be fine.

Their chances had improved since their flight from the capitol. The provinces on the fence had indeed allied with Mei when Touke and herself had dropped in for a visit. They had also dropped by An and Fu. In Fu, they had gotten subtly hostile treatment until they finally left for their own safety, to avoid a knife in the back. An they had simply been chased out. So it was the outer provinces with the Queen against the central three, a strange reversal from the usual course of war. They had superior numbers and, according to everyone, superior leadership.

This may be because of what many people called the Old Guard. The Old Guard was headed by three province lords—Shou in Kai, Techi in E, and Mei in Teki, called the Generals of the Old Guard, or just the Generals. They had all been appointed by Ken-Ou long ago. The other members were various generals and officials working under them, all dating back to the time of Ken-Ou. Shou, Techi, and Mei had originally been the generals of the Forbidden Army. They had been known as the jewels of the throne, serving with exceptional skill and undying loyalty to the king. So great was their renown and competence, that even across the rules of a few kings, nobody replaced them. Until the time of Ken-Ou

The king before Ken-Ou had led Kyou down to ruin. The entire kingdom was one big mess. A number of the province lords, to everyone's surprise, resigned rather than deal with the ruin and displeasure of the masses. Ken-Ou, at the very beginning of his rule, had to face this dilemma. He quickly got acquainted with the Generals with no small amount of hero worship, having heard their names since he was a child. The worst of the provinces was Teki. It should have been a rich province, with vast arable land, forests, and a central crossroads, but disaster and mismanagement had brought the whole thing to ruin. The first person he offered the province to, the prime minister of the province, refused the position. Shortly thereafter, a good portion of the officials abandoned the government, only worsening the state of affairs. He thought long and hard about who to place in such an important position, and, after much deliberation, offered the position to one of the few people he could trust: Mei. More or less the same thing happened with Kai, E, Sou, and An, though the governors had been changed in Sou and An since. The rest of the Old Guard were those they had brought with them to their provinces—their military subordinates they trusted, and a number of minor officials from the national government.

Even to those who knew them, it was a shock that the Generals had managed to turn their provinces around so quickly. The Old Guard were revered in their new provinces as the people who made their new lives possible, who had saved Kyou, and turned these three provinces into the richest in the kingdom. As before, the Old Guard, the Generals especially, were known for their powerful loyalty to the throne. So it was no surprise to anyone that it was one of the Generals who had taken in the Queen and the Taiho when they had been expelled from Soufuu. The only surprising thing, to many, was that the monarch had not been selected from one of the Generals in the first place.

Aku had had similar thoughts herself when she had first met the Generals, all three of whom had come on a shouzan. She knew a bit of their history, how they had come to power, how they had used that power. Even though they had started as warriors, they had turned out to be enlightened rulers. Each one she had met, she had known they would be good for Kyou, that they would bring Kyou into a long era of prosperity. And she had been disappointed every time one of them passed by without the revelation.

So Touke was in good hands. Between Touke and the Generals, Kyou was in good hands. So she should stop worrying. It would all turn out fine. Well, not fine. Many people would die, something she absolutely hated with everything she had. But it wasn't in her power to stop it. She despised her helplessness as well, but there was no helping it. In the end, payed for in blood, Touke and the Generals would save Kyou, and work together to bring in an era of peace and prosperity.

As Touke had told her before leaving, all she had to do was wait.


Pinkon: 敏痕

Koubochi: 浤伐

Shou: 劭 (this is an uji)

Techi: 悊 (this is also an uji)

Ken-Ou: 堅王