Trigger warning.

Chapter Six:

Differing Notions

Marriage.

The idea was absurd and yet it befit her. Twice already their father had offered Masami for marital gain. The first to Prince Hakuyuu and that proved to be null quickly as his life, along with his brother's and father's, was snuffed out in the fire.

She hadn't been happy with that arrangement just as much as she despised this one. Yet not as fervently. Toying with the opaque silver band around her right ring finger, Masami couldn't keep from sighing in defeat. At least now there was nothing to be heartbroken about.

She no longer had a lost love to mourn over. It relieved and tore into her all the same to think that. All she had left was a ring of broken promises and letters of a youthful romance that never was.

"It's not much but it reminded me of you. Pure, simple, yet precious."

Words. That's all Masami had left. That and one little girl.

He would detest you and curse you to the depths of hell if he knew the things you've done.

She didn't care anymore, honestly. He was dead. So was she. None cared for Kohaku even when they appeared to. They knew her as something she was not. They didn't know the truth that Masami did. And despite how chagrined she was about the fact, she would keep that secret to herself. For the time being at least.

It helped keep her in line.

And as far as she didn't fall out of line, Masami wouldn't break her deal. Although she accepted the fact of how sadistic her methods were, they worked. They alleviated...something. Never quite filled the emptiness though or dispersed the everlasting grief. And it wasn't like the little wretch didn't gain anything either. With pain she bought her silence.

For how much longer, though?

Masami had to admit that keeping up with this was getting tiresome. Years of quiet had wrung her dry of patience. Violence kept her occupied; it was energy she expended towards war or the wretched lamb. But it was a pastime that, like any other, would lose its charm sooner or later.

And when that time came, she'd have to find another way to keep herself patient and the lamb tamed and quiet. Regardless of her spite, Masami knew that, no matter the circumstances, the secret held by them needed to be kept. For the sake of those oblivious to it.

Masami cared about her family more than anything. And if they were to find out the truth...

It would destroy them like it's destroyed me.

She wouldn't allow that. Their family was already shattered enough. A blow of such magnitude would kill them. So she would go on with the charade.

The marriage wasn't something in her power to change. Like before, she would remain quiet and this time truly go through with it.

"It must be hard to marry someone you don't love."

"It was never about love, Cael." Her voice echoed quietly in her room during the midst of the night. "It's about obligation and my family's legacy."

A legacy that not all of them would get to see. But she would plant the seeds of that garden with blood and lies if she had to. Masami would make sure that her family survived the ordeals of this era. No matter the costs.

Her sister's marriage. Her own prospects to command. Her rekindling of past relations. Her discovery of new ones.

Two more months passed by with those ideas hopping interchangeably in her head. Despite her busy schedule, Kohaku couldn't believe that the smallest details still bothered her through the days that came and went.

Although bothered the first few days, she'd proven to herself that it hadn't been so much Masami's involvement in the marriage as it was Kouen's. And although she knew her place and where her boundaries stood as a mere general under his command, she couldn't quiet the thoughts that surfaced at the strangest of times. Usually when they were alone either after training or when she studied late into the night. She knew they weren't right but she found solace in them and let them be. After all, she would never again act on an impulse such as she'd done that night in the study.

Remembering it, though, brought some candid emotion in her that wanted to be freed. It reminded her of what she felt when she was younger, capturing dungeons. That euphoria and adrenaline of the unknown—of a feeling she couldn't quite place. Was it benign admiration or a blossoming emotion?

Whichever it is, don't let it grow.

Kohaku had to remind herself of that constantly nowadays. It would only bring her pain if she let it be. Infatuations were a garden that, if taken care of, could blossom beautifull. Childish as hers was, Kohaku knew that caring for this tiny bud she'd found would prove deadly. Masami and Kouen would marry and she, as their sister, would have to be happy for them.

That's just life.

And it hurt.

It was hard to settle that aside at times. Kohaku found herself thinking about it even today when she trained with Seijin. Twirling a staff about her body, the wood tapped against different parts of her before it settled down on the floor. Seijin, with his sword aloft and ready to strike, stepped forward. Distracted as she was, Kohaku failed to avoid it in time and instead took the attack at full strength. But tempered steel was mightier than crafted wood, and the sword cut cleanly through her staff. Quickly noticing the breaking of her weapon and only barrier, Kohaku bounced back but clumsily tripped on her own feet, sending herself down.

Seijin flinched at the loud clattering of wood and of his master falling flat on her back. He strode over to find her blinking owlishly at the ceiling and at him as he bent over to watch her.

"Are you all right, Miss Kohaku?"

Kohaku didn't answer. Instead she nodded and sighed, not reaching a hand out for him to help her up. Seijin took this as a sign that she was done for the morning which was much seeing as they had only been at it for twenty minutes. But he wouldn't complain about some free time. Instead he picked up after themselves, disposing of the broken staff and putting his own sword away, all the while Kohaku remained stagnant on the wooden flood of the barracks. Once done, he came back to her and sat beside her to stare out and accompany her.

"Something on your mind?" he asked without much preamble.

Again, no answer. After five months with her, Seijin knew that to be yes. If she was being so clumsy, then she surely had much to think about. He also knew that asking wouldn't do much. She would talk by herself when she wanted to.

So he waited and waited. Soon they spent the usual two hours of training simply staring out, listening to nature around them as time passed by. It was towards the end of their session that she raised her hands from her sides to sign at him.

"You've hit your peak of adulthood, haven't you, Seijin?"

The boy flustered at such question. Averting his eyes, he nodded and hid his face from her. "I-I'm already at the age, yes."

Kohaku turned to lay on her side and tried to catch a glimpse of him before she asked her next question. "Is there any girl you like?"

"E-Excuse me?" he blurted out way too loudly, his cheeks beat red.

Forgetting her thoughts for a second, a grin grew on her lips before she got up and sat only to inch towards him. A finger raised, she poked at his side like a pestering child. "Oh, is that embarrassment I see?"

"Please don't, Miss Kohaku," he implored as his face got redder.

"Come on, Jin." She poked harder at his side enough to make him move her hand away. "Who's the lucky lady?"

"I can't."

"Seijin. I'm doing this out of concern." Throughout signing this, she held the crooked grin which told Seijin that it wasn't just concern that drove her to ask such things. "Don't make me order you to say it. You know I hate that. So won't you tell?"

Seijin flinched at that reminder. He'd grown loyalty to the woman that was now teasing him like an older sister. And despite never forgetting his position, not once had she ever technically ordered him to do anything. They were always favors that he was more than willing to do. But they both knew that if she were ever to give an order, he would follow it. Even about such an uncomfortable topic.

"I-It's one of the kitchen girls." Seijin lifted his gaze only to meet Kohaku's expectant eyes. She motioned for him to continue and he sighed at that. "We spend time together sometimes."

Kohaku couldn't keep from smiling. "That's really great. I hope you get along with her well."

"That's it?" Seijin flinched when Kohaku raised an eyebrow at such bold question. "I-I mean, your curiosity is usually not so easily quelled. If I may ask, what gives the question?"

This time, Kohaku was the one to refrain from answering. Instead she stood up and gave out a hand for Seijin to take and rise with her. "Forget it. Let's go have something to eat." A mischievous smile came to her and it sent a chill down Seijin's back. "And how about meeting that little lady of yours so I can get to know her better?"

Seijin laughed nervously, unable to know whether she was joking or not. It wasn't until she hit his back and he fell a bit forward that he knew it'd been a joke. But all jesting stopped when Kohaku heard something coming from afar. Turning to glance over her shoulder, her eyes caught Masami as she quickly made her way towards them. Seijin noticed her thereafter as both raised to meet her: Seijin with a respectful bow but Kohaku with a simple wry smile.

A breathy 'there you are' comes from Masami before she stops before them trying to catch her breath. Once better, she turns to Kohaku with a steely glance. "Where have you—" She stopped herself briefly before going straight to the subject. "You're being summoned by the First Prince."

Kouen?

"What for?"

"Didn't say," Masami's eyes briefly came to Seijin who fidgeted under her scrutiny. "It's almost afternoon. Shouldn't you have been in the kitchen serving lunch?"

"He's not a palace servant, Masami."

But Seijin cringed at hearing her remind him. "My apologies, my lady. Training with master went far longer than I anticipated."

"I don't want to hear excuses. Just go," Masami ordered.

Just as he was about to step out, Kohaku stopped him brusquely with a tight grip on his arm. With a stern frown, she eyed him before turning to Masami. "What is this?"

"I have lunch to prepare for Lady Masami and your siblings," he replied.

Kohaku shook her head at that. "With who's permission?"

"Mine." She breathed out through her nose, trying to calm herself as she turned to face Masami. "He's a servant of our house and he is to follow orders."

"Yes. Mine," Kohaku clarified. "He isn't a family servant, Masami. He is my vassal." Seijin got somewhat flustered at hearing that for the first time. "You have plenty of others here. Push them around all you want but leave Seijin alone." Masami glared at her, arms crossed before her chest, while Seijin couldn't pry his eyes from either of them. Knowing she had to disperse the animosity out off of him, Kohaku turned with a reassuring smile. "They'll be skipping lunch from now onward, Jin. Don't bother."

"But—"

"That's an order, Seijin," she signed with one hand while the other squeezed the arm that she still held. "Leave us."

Knowing when to obey, he retreated with a quick dismissal. From what she could see, Masami wasn't at all happy as the two saw him leave the empty barracks. Once gone, she turned with a furious glare. "How dare you."

"He's not yours to order around as you see fit," Kohaku said.

"And you have no say in that matter." Masami's frown went away quicker than Kohaku thought possible as a grin took over. "In case you forgot, nothing belongs to you."

Kohaku had to frown at that. Despite it being the truth, she didn't see Seijin as an object like many others did. It was more than apparent to her that she owned nothing of what she called hers. Because she was under Masami's thumb, it all would go back to her in the end.

"Nothing belongs to me, true. But don't consider him amongst those possessions. He's a human being."

The smile grew instantly into a full grin, smug as could be. "And that makes him different from you how exactly?"

Touche.

But Kohaku did her best to ignore Masami as she sidestepped her to head towards the council room where she knew Kouen would be. It was the best bet this time of day. Ignoring Masami's taunts all the way there, Kohaku's gut turned out to be right as they entered and found him and Koumei both in the council room. They weren't alone, however. Most of Kouen's household was there as well.

Some of them turned at her opening the door and smiled her way. Seishuu Ri was one of the more amiable ones along with Kin Gaku. The two frequented the training grounds where she and Seijin went to practice. Sometimes as spectators and others as sparring partners for the young vassal. More recently, though, they found it 'fun' to spar against her and her djinn weapon equips. There was no denying that she enjoyed it as well. It tended to be hard to find sparring partners that didn't hold back against her, Kouen being the exception.

She'd also met Shou En and Kokuton Shuu, the more reserved of the four Household Members. Kokuton Shuu was a bit more approachable after he'd seen the small child that she became with Marbas. Some kind of kin animalistic sense, she supposed. As for Shou En, he seemed to be a simple onlooker. That didn't mean she wouldn't invite him to some drinks here and there after she and the others finished their sessions.

Regardless of her previous acquaintances though, she felt the slight tension in the room as Seishuu Ri and Kin Gaku lost their grins when she reached the long standing table in the middle of the room. At the head of it, Kouen sat with Koumei standing at his side. The rest of his household stood behind the two at the ready.

Kohaku couldn't understand what they were doing here though. There didn't seem to be any time to wonder, though, as Masami quickly went to present themselves to the First Prince. Kouen's eyes lingered a bit on Masami and Kohaku pouted unable to stop herself.

When he finally focused back on Kohaku, she shook her anxiousness away before standing straight to pay attention. "Training with Seijin went on the long side I presume. Seishuu Ri didn't find you in the study or gardens."

She blinked a couple of times surprised that he knew her schedule so well. Not only that but the places she frequented otherwise too. "Yes. But I heard you called for me, your highness?"

Kouen turned to Koumei this time and let him take over. Koumei nodded before he began reading from a scroll he had open in his hands. "A nomadic tribe towards the northeast has struggled for the past few months to survive after the drought that's happened in the area. They have remained out of reach as of recently but they seemed to have settled towards the mountains. Despite their current circumstances, they have been one of the most prominent tribes still living in the northeast. Couriers that were sent prior to their escape north returned a couple of days ago with the results of the negotiations."

"Negotiations?" Masami whispered under her breath. Unable to understand, she pondered. Her face quickly contorted to one Kohaku knew tattled her thinking.

On the other hand, Kohaku could already think of some possibilities as to why they would do such thing. Normally, tribes like the one Koumei continued to describe were easy targets despite their size. Isolated out in the northern plains with no solid fortress to stand behind was bad enough. The drought that had been going on this past year meant that those once fruitful fields would be withering and efficiently making their survival that much harder. Surely, if given the choice now, they would surrender peacefully.

"They have refused our terms."

Eyes wide, Kohaku could hardly believe that. In the situation they were in, why would they sacrifice themselves for a pride that wouldn't feed them?

Koumei rubbed at the back of his neck as he finished the briefing. "Ultimately, the reason both of you were called was to input your thoughts on the matter."

"Ours, your highness?" Masami asked, incredulous.

"Answer."

Kouen's request was clear and to the point. Koumei hadn't been kidding. Their minds seemed already made from what she could discern which made it harder to understand why even ask them for their opinions.

Masami kept quiet for a bit longer, still thinking.

Kohaku, however, already had something in mind. But speaking before her older sister would be disrespectful, especially in front of others. Her troubles were already mildly bad from the fight about Seijin. Aggravating things more wouldn't bode well for her. So she waited instead and simply stared at the two princes as they waited with her.

"You've already your mind made up?"

Hearing Kouen address her, Kohaku nodded. But instead of signing anything, she turned to her side at Masami. A bit flustered at the scrutiny, she finally caved and decided to let her go first. Glad for the opportunity, Kohaku raised her hands.

"Offer help."

Koumei blinked a couple of times. "In exchange for their surrender?"

She nodded in agreement. "The droughts have brought the northern plains to unsustainable circumstances for tribes like theirs. They will run out of supplies sooner or later if they haven't already. And you said they had been edged alongside the mountains?"

Koumei nodded as he brought his fan to cover his mouth.

That gave Kohaku a bit more information. "Sustainability around there is worse. They'll need resources soon."

"If they're as weak as you claim, then it would be much easier to just attack them and end this quickly," Masami interrupted wanting her two cents in.

Both brothers eyed the sisters, contemplating that each had an idea of their own. Experienced as they were, however, Kouen and Koumei could easily discern the flaw in that plan. And from what they could see of Kohaku's frown as she stared down at the map laid upon the table, she did as well.

"Do you have anything to dispute against such proposal?" Kouen asked.

Not raising her gaze from the map, she lifted her finger and pointed straight at the specific area where they had marked as the location of the tribe.

"What about the ravine?" Masami asked her with a slight glare.

Kohaku stared back as if surprised she hadn't seen it and what it meant if they did go with her plan. "If they haven't surrendered that means they intend to fight. By the path of their migration, it looks like they headed straight to the ravine for a reason. If we fight them there, even with overwhelming numbers, the terrain won't allow the soldiers to travel through in large numbers. It would be a trickling threat that the tribe would be able to fend off."

"She isn't wrong," Koumei reinforced. "Since our first attempts to reach them, they specifically traveled to the mountains and have remained there. And they, as well as other northern tribes, have been recorded to retreat further into the mountainous terrains where they can better fend off enemy attack."

"In that case..." Masami audibly clicked her tongue when no other idea came to her. "She's right. The best would be to offer them survival in exchange for their surrender."

But they won't surrender.

With all this new information it was easy to deduce that much now. They wouldn't have planted themselves in such place if they didn't mean to fight until they fell. But by the looks of it, either few or all of them would fall.

They shouldn't just die like that.

"Send me."

All who managed to read her fast signs were perplexed. Koumei tilted his head, a sincerely curious look in his eye as he laid the scroll down and lowered his fan away from his face. "You, general?"

"To negotiate one more time."

"What can you do that we haven't possibly tried?" Kouen inquired

"Actually talk to them as equals."

There was no ignoring the small gasps that came from the few people in the room. Not because of the mere ridiculous statement but because she had so boldly stated her intentions in such passive aggressive manner. At reading her reason, Koumei looked over his shoulder to his brother who simply stared at the younger sister. Curiously enough he saw a glint of...something in his brother's eyes. Amusement?

His brother lifted a single brow at the statement before asking as question. "Are you insinuating we have not done so before?"

Not successfully, no. But as much as she had gotten used to talking openly with him and Koumei, they were in different circumstances now. Those times where she could somewhat speak her mind were different compared to being out in public. As much as she disliked it, she had to be relegated back to a submissive subject. Not only as a mere general to their commander but as a subject to their prince and future emperor. I hate power struggles.

"Perhaps I can give it a new perspective that could have been neglected."

Silence came over the room as their General Commander mulled over the options offered by them. Kohaku could only stand back beside Masami as they waited for his answer. Like many times before, Kohaku could hear Masami's blood rushing through her veins from the anxiety. Working under pressure—yeah, not one of Masami's strongest points. It seemed that fighting for so long made her callous against such things. Whether it was good or bad, she didn't know. But she supposed that if it helped her stay cool when out in the battlefield, then it worked for something. Now it helped her stay cool and confident. And being better educated in an area where her sister usually surpassed her help keep that confidence at an all-time high.

There was no more doubting herself. She had the knowledge, the confidence, and the ingenuity to fight Masami on her own playground. And if there was one thing that she actually appreciated about speaking out in public it was that everything was fair. Masami could glare at her all she wanted but here it came down to whomever dealt best with the cards they had. And if Kohaku had done anything in the past five months, it was build herself a deadly deck alongside a mindset to use it.

"Very well." Both turned their gazes up to see Kouen as he rose from his sit. All those behind him stepped back as he came up. "You will join Koumei and myself on tomorrow's expedition."

A brighter grin couldn't have come onto her had she tried.

"She cannot."

Not astonished at the action itself, Kohaku was more amazed that Masami had spoken so boldly out of place. The perfect picture of properness, it wasn't something she usually did. She gave Kohaku a slight glare before turning with softened features back at the two princes. "Our father relegated his army to the both of us for a reason. Kohaku is not ready to go into the battlefield by herself."

It wasn't hard for anybody to hear the underlying tone of her words.

'Without me' you mean.

"My brother and king and myself have both spent time preparing General Kohaku for such situations," Koumei commented. "Are you questioning our capabilities on teaching her?"

"Of course not." Seemingly tired that the approach wasn't working, Masami treaded daintily over to Kouen's side. Without a word, she reached her hand out and wrapped her hands around his arm. Eyes wide, Kohaku couldn't believe that she'd mustered the courage it took to walk up to him much less touch him in such intimate way. In front of people. Unaffected, Kouen simply glanced down to meet her gaze.

Damn. She grew some—

"...please." Her ears perked at hearing the small whisper coming from Masami's mouth. Surely those around would be able to hear a soft mumble. As close as the two were, however, Kouen would most likely hear it as well. And probably unbeknown to the rest, she'd be able to hear it too without much trouble. "I love my sister and don't want her to be hurt. You can understand, can't you?"

Despite the semblance of privacy that she wanted to keep, Kouen didn't seem to care regardless. He didn't keep the pretense she had started, pulling her hands off of his arm. "I vouched to your father about her capabilities. From how I have trained her and from my own brothers' testimony, I can assure you of those as well. More than enough time has been put on her improvement and I do not resign from my word." Letting her hands fall and leaving her with those words, he turned to Kohaku. "We depart at dawn. Koumei will inform you of the rest. Don't be late."

That last sentence perplexed her. After almost five months of training sessions before the break of dawn, she thought if anybody knew about her punctuality it would be him. It actually took her a second to decipher exactly what those last three words meant.

Don't disappoint.

"I won't."

Heaving a sigh, Kouen walked past Masami without another word. His household members followed somewhat perplexed with glances at Masami. From their looks, it made Kohaku wonder if their engagement was public news yet. If it wasn't, then Masami had done a very bold move there. And with that thought, if for a second, Kohaku admired the guts. But that quickly changed when she saw Masami glowering at her for a brief moment. It was so short that she thought she'd imagined it but knowing her, she most likely hadn't. That look was a promise for later retribution and she already felt her body bracing for the punishment to come.

Thankfully, as Koumei explained to her further what the plan for the expedition was, she came to forget about what was to come from Masami and instead focused and her first solo expedition. Well, not actually. And yet despite being in the company of the Western Subjugation Army's General Commander and his advisor, she knew that this was her chance to prove herself. For once, she felt thankful to Sou and Sui for convincing Kouen who ultimately gave her a second chance to advance herself. A higher status, even if just in the military, meant her influence could be more widespread. And the more widespread it could get the better.

Evening began to fall just as the meeting came to a close. Wanting to be as prepared as possible, she spent plenty of time afterward speaking with Koumei in the council room. Since it made it easier to avoid his other, more tedious tasks, he didn't complain much taking the time to explain what she failed to understand. As she read one of the scrolls with the records of what past negotiations had been done with the tribe, Koumei decided to ask a question.

"Did Lady Masami inform you about the marriage?" Kohaku stopped for a second before looking askance. Not wanting to lie but neither to talk, she nodded. "Do you approve?" Koumei lifted his gaze to find her with a raised brow, questioning his inquiry. He didn't take it seriously and instead yawned nonchalantly, "I ask out of concern and curiosity."

"Mostly the latter, I'm assuming."

"You assume wrong." Kohaku couldn't have been more surprised. Koumei, usually being the quiet and reserved one of the three brothers, wasn't one to speak without caution. If anything he spoke much too blatantly and yet more indifferently than his older brother. And he never dallied when it came to his family either.

With that clearly cemented between them, silence came for a few seconds. It came so heavily that Kohaku couldn't concentrate on the scrolls she was trying to quickly memorize and dissect. Instead she focused on not letting her conscious eat away at her and decided to at least give him a decent response.

"I don't approve."

It was Koumei's turn to be astonished. His eyes didn't widen but they did remain in contact with hers. "Really?"

Kohaku laid the scroll she had in her hands down on her lap as she searched for the proper way to explain things without actually putting Masami's image down. Then again, any which way she did put it, they all sounded terrible. But oh well, she'd tell the least bad of them.

"Masami's a very...hard headed woman, to put it nicely. Sure, she seems like the perfect picture of femininity but—"

She could easily turn into a raging demon. But then again...blame was where it should be, she supposed.

Don't say it. Even if it is true.

"But...?"

She shook her head and instead shrugged her shoulders. "She can be a handful. Both seem too similar to be able to be together."

Going with the flow of the conversation, he continued prying. "Similar how?"

But Kohaku was fast to catch onto his intentions. "You know, asking me would be much faster than trying to wriggle answers out of me with your cryptic questions."

"Still not one to be caught off guard, I see," he replied with a small chuckle.

"Learn fast and learn right. Just like you taught me."

"Then I'll get straight to the point," he added. "My brother and king shouldn't be degrading himself to marrying for territory."

"That's a woman's job. Is that what you mean?"

"In our day and age, yes."

"And yet, huh?"

Koumei saw her beating around the bush quite clearly. "You seem as downtrodden about this arrangement as we are." Not knowing how to answer that, she simply shrugged her shoulders. Such gesture just made him that much more curious. "Do you believe him worthy of your own sister?"

"He is a prince, heir to the throne of a grandiose empire." Kohaku twirled her feathered pen between her fingers, exaggerating every point with a stroke of the feather up like a checkpoint. Over the mannerisms, he could see the overwhelming sarcasm. "Why wouldn't I think him worthy?"

"Then why do you appear so bothered by the idea?"

Kohaku froze for a second. Was it really that easy to tell? So many things had gone over her head through the excitement of the expedition that for once in a long while she'd forgotten that small fact. She mentally wrote a note for herself to deal with that later. At least try to. But putting that aside, she smiled and turned to Koumei. "I don't know about Masami but I know my family. Whatever they are doing it has purpose. And while I want to believe they have the country's best interest in mind, I also know what they have taught us: blood is always thicker than water. It's how we were raise to think."

"I understand." But despite her answer, he still felt she'd just danced about the subject. She was hiding something and trying hard not to let it slide. "Do you believe that?"

"I love my family, your highness. Just as much as I know you do yours." Placing her pen back in her tresses, she sighed and picked up the scroll to put away. "But I also believe that whatever foundation we lay will be for prosperity's sake, not ours. I want those that succeed us to never need for what's truly important."

"What would that be?"

"Shelter, food, security. And for their families to prosper once we're gone. It's them who will provide them with those rights once we're gone, after all."

Rubbing at his neck, Koumei couldn't help but sigh. Here he thought that she'd steer away from any sentimental outcome. Then again, from what his brother constantly said about her, her biggest folly was that unconditional love for others. "You're a simplistic woman."

That comment made her chuckle a bit as she stood aside for him to rise from his seat. Once he did, she gave back the scrolls he'd let her read for the expedition. "I am, aren't I? I suppose you can say I'm moved rather easily then."

"Indeed you are from what my brother and king tells me."

"He loves to gloat, doesn't he?"

His turn to chuckle came then when she pointed out such thing about his brother. "Rarely. But when he does, the reason is quite evident."

"Am I supposed to be grateful somehow?"

"You should," he tells her as he accompanies her back to her room. "It's rare to see my brother and king so invested in anything other than history or the good of the nation."

"Does this have to do with that reason you mentioned?"

"You can't tell?" Koumei saw her shake her head from the corner of his eyes. Seeing that slight innocent gaze made him struggle with whether he should even mention such thing. "I'm not one to lay down answers, General Kohaku. I believe you've learned that as well from studying with me."

"And I equally appreciate and abhor that about having you as a strategy mentor."

"I'm sure you will realize it soon." He stopped, making her do the same when they neared the door of her room. Surprising the two of them, they could see Masami standing outside the door as if she had been waiting for Kohaku to return. Knowing it best to leave them to speak, he turned back to her. "But I assure you, he wouldn't waste his time if he did not see potential in you."

The instant he finished that sentence, he saw a small change in the woman before her. Although she was staring at nowhere yet directly at him, he caught sight of it. It was subtle but he saw the slight dusting of her cheeks as she smiled. The simple gesture made her look years younger, her eyes glimmering a bit. Her grin widened as she lifted her gaze to him. "You were right. I am grateful." She took a bow and saluted him before raising. "Goodnight, your highness."

"Yes. Goodnight, general," he said with a slight shocked expression, still affected by what he'd seen.

Stepping back, Kohaku headed to her door still a bit dazed. It soon went away at finally noticing Masami standing outside her door. Despite that familiar glint in Masami's eye, she didn't lash right away at seeing Koumei still looking at the two from afar. Instead she grabbed her, tight, and with a smile took Kohaku inside of the younger's room. The door quickly closed behind her and Masami dragged her all the way into the bedroom before shoving her to a sit. Before she could say anything, Kohaku felt the sharp pain of the slap that Masami brought down against her cheek.

"You cheeky little wretch." Pulling the feathered pen out of her hair, Masami grabbed her loose tresses by a handful before pulling her upward. Kohaku gasped from the pain but held in the cry when Masami kept her sitting with one hand while pulling with the other. "Whatever you're doing, you better stop."

"What am I—"

But before she could even finish, Masami pulled harder at her scalp. "Don't play coy with me." Kohaku felt her scalp burning but focused more on Beleth's metal vessel that had strayed onto the floor. "Snaking your way into the royal family's favor, lamb. You thought I hadn't noticed?"

"My spending time with them?"

"Gaining favor." Finally she took her hand away and pulled hard enough to lift her off the sit before throwing her at the floor. "Especially with the First Prince. Now you're not only a wretch but also a whore. Should have known."

"You're mistaken."

"Am I?" she scoffed. "What else but a whore would seek all three of them out? I expected nothing less from you but them?" She shook her head in disbelief. "They must be idiots to fall to whatever treachery you've planted."

"Don't insult them."

Pain for herself she could stand. But for her to slander them—some of the few people that she actually admired and genuinely liked being around—was something she wouldn't stand for. Before she could even repeat what she said, Kohaku felt the pain from Masami's sharp kick to her side. Grunting from the impact, Kohaku tried to be quiet but wasn't successful as more rained down on her.

"It seems you've forgotten who you're talking to." One last kick sent her a few feet away as she incessantly coughed from the onslaught. Masami took the few steps to her before taking a deep breath. "Whichever the case may be—and however you got them to accept an expedition for yourself—it doesn't matter. You still humiliated me there and someone has got to remind you of your place." Quickly searching through the folds of her ruqun for a small vial, she pulled it out, bent down, and held it out in front of Kohaku's face. "Now lamb, this here is a neat little concoction I put together. Some really interesting herbs and poison that I've been wanting to try out. But it seems to be too toxic for the vermin around here; rats die too easily, you see."

Oh, this.

This—being a guinea pig to test her sadistic hobby on was the worst of her punishments. The couple of times that she'd been made to do so had left horrible memories. The first had left her sick for a whole week, vomiting and nauseous. The second time around it left one of her legs feeling numb. Luckily, all those times, Masami had provided whatever antidote she'd concocted for the poison she made. Physical punishments were manageable for her because she knew what to expect. They would hurt and sting, but they would eventually heal over. With the poisons Masami made there was no telling what damage they could do to her health because they were all new.

Masami pouted childishly before anger overtook her. Taking Kohaku forcefully up from her forearm she thrust her to a sit. The chair wobbled from the force but Kohaku steadied herself quick enough to catch Masami treading through her room searching.

"I was thinking that perhaps something much sturdier would do to test what it's capable of." Soon enough, Masami came back with cup in her hand and the water jug from her room. Pouring a generous amount of water into the cup, Masami hummed something under her breath as she did so and it kept Kohaku on her toes despite still sitting. Uncorking the small vial, Masami weighed it down so only three drops fell into the cup. "That should be enough." Once done with it and putting it away, Masami took the cup in her hands to swirl it around before coming to stand before Kohaku once more. "Now, shall we?" she asked and brought the cup closer to her.

Incredibly, something compelled her to reproached. "Please, not this. Hit me and cut me if you want but not this. Not tonight." Kohaku couldn't think what possessed her to say such things but she didn't want to be toyed with when she had such an important mission come the morning.

Unable to believe the words she'd signed, Masami raised a fine eyebrow perplexed. "Shall I remind you, lamb, that all I have to do for them—for everybody—to know the truth is say one simple sentence, three little words? And believe me, it'll be enough for them to question, for them to search, and for them to figure out everything. You may be good at hiding, you damn wolf in lamb's clothing, but I know what will kill you." Masami swirled the cup once more and brought it down to Kohaku's eye level. "And believe me, this little brew is nothing compared to the wrath you'll receive from those two once they find out what you've hidden from them for so many years."

Kohaku could do nothing but stare at the cup she held in those frivolous hands. Despite the horrendous screams of her gut telling her to just run and not do it, the illogical part of her that pinned her to her sit was boisterous. It rang in her head a warning bell much louder than the one pleading for her wellbeing—this one pleaded her to buy silence. She hated to admit it but Masami was right—regardless of the consequences she couldn't allow them or anybody to know.

Even if it kills me.

Hands damp and shaking, she took the cup and brought it to her lips. Not wanting to back down, she held her breath before tipping the cup to her lips and drinking the contents. Masami tilted the cup upward ensuring that she took every last drop. Kohaku coughed a bit at the bitter taste before a shiver went down her spine.

"Good little lamb." Masami took the cup to check she'd drank everything before putting it down. She smiled before turning to leave the room. "Be sure to take care of yourself tomorrow, all right? Wouldn't want to ruin the tests now."

The closing of the doors sounded much louder when Masami left this time. Kohaku felt weak despite only having just drank it. Her hands were still shaking and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop them or herself from shivering. Something ticked in her now, both a mental and physiological mine biding its time to detonate. And it would—she wouldn't know when or where or how, but it would. And what's worse was that she couldn't just lay bedridden to wait it out. If she didn't attend tomorrow's expedition, she'd lose much if not all of the trust and respect she'd earned.

You took both burdens onto yourself. Now carry them and take the consequences they bring.

Biting her lip, she went away and picked up Beleth's metal vessel before huddling on her bed. Her hands held both vessels close to her bosom, the tender voices of her djinn trying to assure her that everything would be all right.

Three drops wouldn't do much. No matter the strength, such dilution couldn't possibly do much harm.

She repeated those words over and over in her head, wanting to believe them. More like she needed to believe them. If she planned to carry on with the expedition the next day, then she would need to control her body through her mind. Thinking one is okay must equate that one is okay.

Mind over body.

But the shallow thought left her dreadful as well as self-conscious. As idiotic as her decision had been, she had made that grave for herself—in more ways than one. All she had left to do now was hope that lying in it wouldn't cost her tomorrow's mission.

"This is it. The tribe of Baisè."

It took their small party a few hours to get through the mountain pass and the narrow ravine to reach where the Baisè hid themselves. Because of the current ceasefire, the chieftain had agreed to one last attempt at negotiations with the Kou Empire if they agreed to meet on his terms. Although Kouen and Koumei saw it idiotic, Kohaku actually agreed to it, adding that it would be a show of respect to follow such simple instructions. Perhaps the tread to and from where they left Koumei and the rest of the battalion would be painstakingly slow without magic carpets but it'd have to do. Mounted on horses, they met with their guide halfway through who then guided them to where the Baisè were located.

The sight of their terrible state turned Kohaku's stomach. The huts they lived in were mostly tattered, some burned at places. The people weren't much better; it didn't take her long to notice the dilapidated state the tribe as a whole was in. Most of the men were absent with just women attending to what they could. What she did manage to notice on their way to the chieftain was the children. The young greatly outnumbered the old, and many were malnourished with clear signs to show it. It broke her heart to see them like that.

"Miss Kohaku." As they stopped their horses, Seijin, who'd been the only one she'd brought along, called her in a whisper. "Are you all right?" An eyebrow raised at hearing this. Seeing her confusion, Seijin pursed his lips before answering. "You seem...jittery."

Instinctively, Kohaku hid her hands underneath her cloak as she stepped down from her stallion, slowly and carefully. Feigning a smile, she signed. "Yes."

But as soon as she was done, she hid them back beneath the cloak. As she had suspected, the poison had shown effects soon after it had time to course through her body. At first they were just slight movements of her fingers that she wanted to chalk up to involuntary spasms. But as the morning and their journey continued, they kept getting more noticeable and they were not just uncontrolled convulsions. For brief moments, she could swear that the fingers on her right hand began to feel stiff. Numb almost. But moving her hand and stretching her fingers constantly helped keep it manageable. For the moment, her priority would be to keep the side-effects of the poison hidden and as under control as possible. The spasms would be hard to deal with but she had the stiffness under control so far. That was something.

Leaving the horses behind once at the foot of a particular hut, Kouen stayed behind with the small troops they got to cross the mountain range with and only she and Seijin followed the guide further in. At fully entering, she was surprised to see the actual size of the place and the fact that it was packed with the chieftain and what she presumed to be his confidants. Out of respect, the two bowed and saluted at their company with the chieftain keeping a stoic expression.

"I welcome you."

Not missing a beat, she smiled kindly and signed with Seijin swiftly translating. "We are pleased that you have welcomed us once more."

He raised an eyebrow at what every person always did but didn't fester on it and decided to continue on with the conversation. "We do so with amiability, child."

"General." Kohaku frowned at Seijin who'd spoken so out of place. His stern expression swiftly softened, "My apologies."

The chieftain cleared his throat before motioning for her to sit down. The two followed his instructions and the chieftain continued without preamble. "Let us not delay this talk any longer, General. It is to my knowledge that you have come with new terms for our surrender."

Kohaku nodded. All through their trip to the mountains, she had mulled over how to appear to the Baisè chieftain and his people. At first she thought that opting for default stoicism like Kouen or Koumei would be wise, but after seeing the state of their people—so beaten and downtrodden—she knew that would only be a tactless thing to do. And frankly it wasn't something she felt she could pull off. So instead she pursed her lips solemnly before signing.

"Before that...if it's not too imprudent of me to ask, how has your tribe come to such state?"

Again, he raised an eyebrow perplexed. "I am sure your informants already told you: the drought has kept us limited in supplies and that has dwindled our numbers."

"No." Kohaku paused and took a breath before continuing. "I meant the searing on your huts and the fact that I only saw women and children about. You've suffered through more than just a drought."

There wasn't an answer at first and it wasn't unexpected. In fact, she herself thought the question cheeky but it was one she had to ask. If she was going to do this, then she would do this her way. Finally, he answered. "Raiders. They have taken advantage of other small tribes that have also suffered from the drought. Our men protected the settlement but most of them did not return."

That's why they ran to the mountains. It wasn't only because of the threat brought by Kou but also from those that also resided in the northeastern plains. The more Kohaku thought about it, the more the little pieces that hadn't made sense before began fitting into place. Threatened by all sides, the Baisè sought only to survive. And that was just...not living.

Kohaku sighed knowing that they wouldn't want to prolong this if not necessary, so she didn't. "Then I believe that this is in your best interest. Your people don't seem capable of surviving for much longer."

"What do you propose?"

"As you so wisely surmised, we are fully prepared and at the ready to attend to your people's needs and to your men's injuries in exchange for your abdication," she explained. "Just past the mountain range are the rest of our troops at the ready to help if you agree to those terms."

But he didn't say anything; he simply scoffed. "You people of Kou see nothing but opportunities in the despair of others. Truly disgusting."

Seijin grunted but Kohaku didn't react. Despite not liking the disgrace, she couldn't say she completely disagreed. Kohaku herself saw the advantages they were taking with the Baisè most vulnerable. And although she knew it wouldn't be pretty, she hadn't expected it to be so hard to swallow. But she eventually did and replied.

"Despite what you may think of us, I believe you have your people's best interest in mind. And the way I see it, there are three outcomes depending on your answer to these negotiations." Putting one hand with her palm out, she tilted her head that way. "One: you agree and cooperate. This would be the simpler solution for both parties. You ensure your people's survival and avoid further attack from raiders. Two—" She laid her other hand the same way and her head followed suit. "You refuse and fight back. After being attacked before, your people do not seem capable of such feat. You would only lose more numbers and the conclusion would remain the same."

"And the third?" he asked.

"You run." Kohaku raised her gaze then and met his. "And you expose your people to complete eradication. The way your surroundings are you could possibly last a few months. Longer if you manage to find resources. But you also risk encounters with the raiders again. And, as I said before, your men cannot take another fight. By the looks of it, neither can your people take another step."

"You thought about this, haven't you, General?"

Kohaku nodded. "I wished to provide you with all the possible options, regardless of whether they benefited us. Be sure to know, though, that our General Commander will continue his pursuit if I am to fail. In the end, however, the decision is yours to make."

The chieftain clicked his tongue and motioned his confidants forward as they began to exchange whispers amongst each other—some in angry protest, others in genuine concern. Wanting to deal with a problem of her own, Kohaku signed at Seijin about his outburst. Ashamed about it, Seijin signed back that he was terribly sorry about that. Kohaku exhaled through her nose but didn't think she'd have to reproach him for it. Even after that, though, they waited for a longer time still. Whenever they seemed to finally have an answer, they would ask more questions of her. Some she already thought ahead for while others she had to be quick on her feet to answer. None seem to take more than a few seconds for her to come up with a reasonable answer, though. For once, Kohaku surprised herself. Before, she seldom could think that fast on her feet when attending political council meetings and most of the job would be left to Masami despite being such a nervous wreck at times. Now...it really amazed her how far her perseverance got her.

And they also gave some fruition apparently because after a couple of hours of questioning, they finally decided upon an answer.

"General." Called out of her thoughts, Kohaku and Seijin raised their gazes and met the whole council. "We see the options you have given us and you are not wrong. My people will not last much longer the way we are now. We discussed this previously when your country first sent in negotiators and our prospects have not improved. Regrettably, we have come to an accord." Some of the members tried to stop him but he didn't hesitate after a brief second to sigh in defeat. "We agree to surrender to the Kou Empire."

There was no denying the answer she'd heard with her own ears. They agreed; she'd done it.

Why do I feel so heavy then?

The chieftain and his confidants stood and she and Seijin followed. "We will sign the treaties your previous negotiators have placed on the table as well." He reached out to shake her hand and she reciprocated. As soon as she got close, however, he retracted his hand for a second. "But only after my people have been treated and we are safe past the mountain range with the battalion you have brought."

Kohaku didn't hesitate to nod. He sighed one last time before shaking hands with her. Only after he'd let go did she have a moment to breathe easy. The men allowed her and Seijin to exit first as the tribesmen followed behind her. The chieftain came to her side and informed her that she would have his people ready to embark before nightfall came. She agreed saying that they would inform the General Commander of the situation and prepare themselves as well.

With that they parted ways and she quickly made her way to the small clearing where the group she'd come with were at. Seeing her, Seishuu Ri and Kin Gaku allowed her inside Kouen's encampment. Alone, she saluted him before she hurriedly explained the results and their current situation. It only took a few minutes to retell what'd happened during the last three hours of meeting she'd endured and, thankfully, it'd come to a good conclusion.

"It took you three hours to convince them," he mulled as he stood and walked over to her. "Somewhat slow and that you accepted for their written approval until we cross is amateurish, but the fact that it gave positive results is satisfactory enough. You've learned well." The compliment ran through her head and she smiled, glad that she hadn't disappointed him. Having looked away after speaking, Kouen relayed the rest of what would be done. The heavily injured would be dealt by him, only enough for them to travel across the ravine while she and his Household Members rounded the soldiers for the trek. She accepted her orders and he took that as the end of the conversation. He went off to ready himself but was perplexed as to why she hadn't left yet and instead stood with a slight frown. "Was something unclear, General?"

Kohaku lifted her gaze but quickly averted her gaze before pursing her lips. Kouen knew that expression. "If you have anything to say, say it."

"It felt..." Kohaku struggled to find the right word as she wrung her fingers, "burdensome."

That made him lift an eyebrow at the choice of words. "Burdensome how?"

Wringing her fingers and hands again, she slowly responded. "To give them such narrow choices, pushing them when they're at their most vulnerable. It felt like placing a heavy burden on them and myself. And I don't know if that's the right word to describe it either."

Kouen looked at her despite the fleeting of her eyes before sighing. Coming to stand before her, he stared down. Although Kohaku could pull herself together quickly, there was still that glint of remorse in her stark blue eyes. "It's not, but it is accurate to have such sentiment." When she glanced up, her expression more than confused now, he deemed it necessary to actually explain. "They are burdens you will have from conquering those who do not wish to be conquered, of extinguishing the lingering flame they call individuality for the betterment of your own country. It is the same that I and the rest of my family bear."

"I understand that. It's just—"

It seems you're the only one burdened heavily by it.

"Just what?" he asked curiously.

She shook her head before quickly saluting him once more and smiling wryly as she lifted her head. "Thank you, truly, for all the guidance you have given me. If you'll excuse me." With that, she hurriedly made her exit. Left alone, he stared after her thoughtfully. After interacting with her for so long, he came to recognize that during somber discussions she would constantly "hold her tongue," for lack of a better word. That, in itself, was quite rare seeing she constantly couldn't keep to herself. What he'd seen a few seconds ago was that same glint that darkened her bright eyes every time he caught her daydreaming during their sparring sessions. It was a far-off and detached look and she always turned quiet after being caught on one of her dazes.

It was the quietness that somewhat disturbed him. But perhaps he was imagining it. After all, this was the first mission she'd gone on without her sister present. Perhaps the nerves is what made her such a demurred women for once. Not to say that such contrast to how she usually was wasn't vexing but it could very well have such simple explanation.

Nevertheless, Kouen finally got some confirmation about her improvement. Although, he'd been sure that the Baisè would agree to their terms regardless, it'd been more of a test for her to find those vulnerabilities, exploit them in their favor, and present them to the opposing party in a manner they would be unable to refuse. And although it took her far longer that he and Koumei had calculated it should have, she at least came out of the negotiations with the wanted outcome. It was a crude example to test her full abilities on, but it'd been enough to see how far five months of studying had brought her. And it'd been much by the looks of it. For the moment he supposed it'd be sufficient enough make a decision as to what to tell her father.

But that would come later. Grabbing his sword, he headed out already having to do much healing before they were ready to escort the Baisè out of the ravine.

It was hard to gather the Baisè people once they were packed. Especially the fact that most of them couldn't stop glaring her way; that wasn't helping much of her already dampened esteem, for sure. But she had to ignore it and carry on. They still had a few hours of daylight when they finally got everyone ready to go. From before, she could tell that it would take them just the few hours of daylight they had left and perhaps one more before they reached the battalion on the other side. The darkening skies above them worried her as well. She wondered if possibly the drought would finally end but thought it a false warning. At least she hoped so; rain wouldn't help them. But that was a very small probability and so long as they kept together and kept a steady pace, it would be a trek with few problems.

Kouen and his household led the way with the Baisè people surrounded by soldiers to either side while she and Seijin took the rear, making sure no one stayed behind. She did her best to ignore the people that still glared her way and instead paid more attention to keeping them safe as they began to enter the ravine and walk on the narrow trails it had. It amazed her that Seijin didn't seem as affected by what'd happened as she'd been. Then again, he had other important tasks to do, ones which she'd given him.

"The soldiers from the northern peninsula have already sent their responses." He read aloud from a scroll he kept the accounts of everything on. She didn't understand how he could multi-task so perfectly at reading and riding his horse without falling. It actually made her quite nervous to see him do this on the narrow pathways of the ravine. "Your letters have already been sent to those of the south. Also some from last month had already passed away; their families were informed and asked to answer in their stead."

"You've taken to this task quite so, haven't you, Jin?"

The simple reminder made him sheepishly grin. For a brief minute, he held to the reins of his horse as he actually watched the road and people ahead of them. "It's hard not to. It's a really good thing you do, Miss Kohaku."

"I do what I can."

"But this?" Seijin asked raising the scroll with names after names of soldiers and their families on it. "If this is the amount you've got me doing for the past four months, I can't begin to imagine the numbers you've contacted over the years."

"They've been many, yes. But such endeavors usually pay themselves off."

"Certainly, I believe this one would. After all, when so many soldiers go off to fight for their country, seldom any know their story. In the minds of the citizens—especially those of higher class—they are but faceless people who were doing right by their homeland." He turned to glance at her and smile. "To gather their accounts, catalog them, and revise them in order to eventually publish them once the wars are over...it's such a daunting task, truthfully." With a swift motion of his hands, he rolled the scroll back up to pack it. All the while his smile turned somewhat somber, he mounted the courage to ask his next question. "If I may ask, what gave you the idea to start such undertaking?"

Kohaku shrugged her shoulders at the question but her eyes lost quite some brightness as she lowered her gaze to the floor. Instinctively, she began stroking the mane of her mare to distract herself before answering. "People die during war. It's just a fact. No one gets to know who, what, where, when, or how...they just do. And when they do, only their families remember them but after they're gone, what then? They're forgotten. And people who fight for what they believe is right shouldn't be forgotten. No matter their status—from the most royal to the mangiest of men—they all fight and die for the same cause. As such, they should be recognized and, most importantly, their sacrifice never forgotten."

Seijin's expression came to mimic hers at reading these words. "Miss Kohaku, have you...lost someone like that to war?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she turned up to gaze at the broken backs of the Baisè. "They have. And they'll be bitter and angry and sad. But if this somehow helps them understand what I have come to—what I still struggle to understand...then I hope that it'll do someone some good."

There wasn't anything else he could say. Frankly, he was speechless after such an explanation. One, dare he say, seemed rather genuine to just be something she'd gathered from her years as general. Whichever the case, he didn't dare ask. If anything had grown in him during the last five months of his working under her, it would be his respect and admiration for the woman he served.

"Everything all right?" she asked.

Seijin nodded with a warm smile. "Yes, miss. Everything is perfectly fine."

Thinking his answer odd but not wanting to ask about it, Kohaku returned her watchful eye to the Baisè. Despite the attacks, she still had to admit that the tribe held quite the numbers. And although nothing bad about it, it became a bit of a hassle to make sure they stuck to the mountain walls as they came to the narrowest trails of the ravine. Since it was the longest path before they reached wider roads, she had to constantly tell Seijin to remind them to keep closer to the walls. At times, she found herself galloping up to a group and ride beside them and keep them away from the edge.

It bothered her that she couldn't see Kouen or the others well enough from how long the line had turned as they crossed the road. She really hoped no one was being left behind. The sound of crackling thunder made her look up at the sky that had already began to darken as night approached. At least that had been her original thought until she noticed that she couldn't see the moon or stars because of the heavy, dark clouds that had rolled their way. It could've been just a thunderstorm; it didn't have to mean—

The thought hadn't even finished when she felt the slight prickling of rain hit her face. Lifting her face to look at the sky, she felt small drops at first that fell gently on her face. Those were just the warning, though. From afar, she heard the curtain of pouring rain that came rushing from behind that reached them in a flash. Cries of discomfort and amazement came to her ears all at once. They continued walking and tried their best to ignore it. But the more they did, the more she understood that this wasn't just a quick pour.

At least the drought's going to start going away.

A sudden high-pitched voice made her ears perk up and she turned to watch some feet ahead as a woman struggled with a kid. The girl, probably a year or two younger than Seijin, began to act out, not wanting to walk anymore from what she heard. Their cries rose over the pelting sound of rain; the girl was uncomfortable and tired. Kohaku glanced behind her at the space left and thought for a second. A small ride won't hurt. Having that in mind to help the woman, Kohaku slowly started making her way to them when a distinct sound reached her ears.

It was small and sharp but it had been different. She stopped her mare and lowered her head closer to the ground where she thought she heard it at first. Ignoring Seijin as he called her, Kohaku concentrated on the sound that had left as quickly as it came. Maybe...it'd been her imagination. But it came again and quickly left—it sounded like something...cracking. Her eyes widened when the cracking sound increased as more and more of the ground beneath them began to break.

The road's collapsing.

Not missing a beat, she signed the last two words at Seijin who quickly moved into action. "Everyone, hurry! The road's breaking beneath!" Despite not liking the chaos that ensued, Kohaku knew that they had to move faster than the granite beneath them broke. The rain...it must've unsettled the terrain. Soon the point came where she could easily hear and see the cracks that began to appear on the ground before parts of the ravine started to fall from the edge. Steadying her mare as she misstepped on a breaking piece of granite, Kohaku stroke her mane to calm her a moment before she heard the loudest crack yet. Lifting her gaze, she caught a glimpse of the ground shifting before a large chunk split the road and began sliding down with people struggling to stand as it fell.

"Seijin!"

"Got it!"

Both jumped down from their steads and raced to the scared people as they scrambled to safety. Before anything, Kohaku summoned Beleth's staff before sweeping at the crowd, effectively pushing the ones she could towards more stable ground from further away. From there, the two worked on bringing people back up before the road completely collapsed underneath them. Kohaku could hear Seijin count under his breath as they put the people on safer ground and they scrambled after the rest of the party ahead.

"We're missing some!" Seijin called over the rain to her.

Kohaku scanned the falling ground until her eyes came to a woman—the same one from before, and she held the girl as she cried, scared. Not missing a beat, she climbed down and held both to either side of herself before jumping. The distance she got out of it wasn't much because of the excess weight but it was enough for the woman to reach Seijin's hand as he helped her up. Lighter now, Kohaku held the girl tightly with the hand that held her staff before making the jump to higher ground. Yet even with that close call, there was no time to rest.

"Miss Kohaku, hurry—" But over his cry for her to make haste, Kohaku heard the loudest crack of them all as the road collapsed beneath her feet and they began to fall. Seijin reacted and reached out to her. Hearing and seeing this, Kohaku stretched her hand out and felt Seijin's fingers just close enough to grasp. But when she tried closing her hand, it didn't respond. Her stark blue eyes widened and looked at Seijin's shocked expression a split second before they fell.

Her ears split with pain from screams of the girl she held in her arms as they dove down the ravine towards the forests below.

"Hastily, my king!"

I know!

Changing the staff from one hand to the other, she was about to strike down to soften their fall when she felt a blow to the back of her head. It came with such force that her hold on the staff came undone. It became hard to think but Marbas was fast enough to remind Kohaku of her presence. But her reactions were painstakingly slow as she djinn-equipped into Marbas just in time to cradle the girl in her grown form and take the full impact of the fall on her back. The moment her body made contact with the ground, all air left her lungs and her vision began to darken fast. In a split second, she felt nothing but cold and could hear the girl's cries before everything went black.

The path collapsed completely and left them no choice but to hurry on their way until they reached a wider trail of the mountain range. The people were screaming and crying in a panic that was quickly dying down as the veil of safety came over them. It wasn't until Kouen heard a woman's cries alongside Seijin's panicked shouts over the pouring rain that he turned towards the back where those exact two came running to where he and his Household Members were.

Dismounting his horse, he came down to meet them. The woman cried hysterics to other members of the tribe as they tried to calmed her down. Seijin was mumbling hysterics as well and it was extremely hard to understand him. It wasn't until Kouen caught the words "she fell" that he grabbed the young boy by the shoulders and shook him harshly.

"What happened?"

"M-Miss Kohaku." He frantically stared down at his hands and back at Kouen for a few seconds before continuing. "She had my hand. I-I thought she grabbed it but—she fell over as the trail collapsed. Her h-h-head." He reached the back of his own a split second before his face lost all color. "She hit her head as she fell down. B-Beleth—she let go of Beleth. S-She disappeared in the forest holding onto the girl."

"Girl?" he asked.

"Amira!" the woman cried. Kouen turned to look at the women; hey eyes were wide with fear, and her hands frantic unable to keep still. "She t-tried saving Amira but—Oh gods, please, save her."

Kouen clicked his tongue. Quickly he turned to give orders to his men, "Seishuu Ri, Kin Gaku, lead the men and Baisè to the battalion's encampment." They quickly acknowledged their orders and began to mobilize the unit.

He trailed behind them and Seijin quickly grabbed him by the arm. Although daring, Kouen couldn't miss the panic in his voice or shaking hands, "What about Miss—"

"We'll find her."

Buzzing. A tremendous buzzing and crying voice filled her already aching head the moment she opened her eyes.

"My king!"

A hoarse sound came from her throat, a grunt, as she turned her head away from the pellets of rain that fell harshly on her face. Above their crying voices she could hear not only the rain that poured from above by also the rolling thunder as it clapped every so often. Her clothes stuck to her body as she slowly sat up yet cringed, feeling the throbbing pain that coursed through her whole body. Thinking was a pain too and she had to get up by herself since the little girl kept a few feet of distance between them as she huddled herself beneath a tree. The moment she tried standing, she had to kneel back down as her whole vision blurred and spiraled.

"You were out cold," Marbas explained. "You're not in any good shape right now. Get some cover."

It shocked her that she had to ask Marbas to repeat what she'd said a couple of times over. Her mind was definitely not working well. The buzzing never left her ears but she could still hear the girl scared out of her mind. Weeping without restraint, the girl huddled closer to the tree trunk and shivered as Kohaku made her way towards her in a slow crawl. Once within reach, Kohaku tried reaching out to her but the girl coward against the tree, holding onto it for dear life. Kohaku tried calming her with quiet shushes while slowly reaching out again. The girl stared, petrified from the fall still, but gave her enough leeway to check her for injuries. Some bruises and cuts on her body, clothes torn and soaked but not any different than hers.

Good.

Shivering the girl reached her own hand out to touch Kohaku's face. "Y-You're red."

Red? Reaching her own hand up to her head, Kohaku flinched when she barely touched the back of it. Retrieving it, she saw the splotches of fresh blood washing away from the rain as it fell on her hand. I'm bleeding...?

"It's from the fall, my king, when you lost Beleth."

Bele?

Reaching up again, this time to her hair, she noticed it undone and sticking onto her whole body but didn't find a sign of the feathered pen. He was gone. The horrid thought of losing him was driven out when from above more piles of rock fell from the ravine. Hurrying as much as she could, Kohaku brought herself against the tree, putting the now screaming girl between herself and its trunk for protection. The floor shook from the numerous impacts that stopped after a brief moment.

"We can get him back later. You and the kid need to find somewhere safe to avoid what's falling from the mountains."

We need to wait the pour out?

The thought itself scared her. Beleth was out there, somewhere, and she needed to find him. Now.

"You can't." Marbas' statement made her mind stop that instant. "You can't even stand. You need to rest and let the danger pass. You will find Beleth; we will once you're strong enough to at least weapon equip with me."

Marbas wasn't wrong and it took Kohaku a few breaths to steady her anxiety and realize that. With Marbas' weapon equipped, she would be able to at least sniff out Beleth's presence. It would be a certain find then.

Yes, you're right. Thank you.

Willing herself up, Kohaku used the tree to stand despite the tremendous agony her whole body was in. She waited a few seconds for the dizziness to stop before she glanced down at the girl and reached her hand out to her. The girl, however, didn't let go of the tree, afraid. Encouraging her to leave would be hard, she was frightened and alone. Her mind hazily went through her options and found a good one. Not one she would ever have thought of doing again.

Just for now, though. Until this is all over.

She scanned the place, ensuring that they were alone before bending down a bit to the girl's level. The little girl's dark eyes dilated in fear but Kohaku only smiled and cleared her throat before opening her mouth. "My name's Kohaku. What's yours?"

The little girl gasped at hearing her speak and Kohaku couldn't blame her. Her voice, despite not being completely gone, was severely damaged. It certainly didn't sound like it had many years ago. It was hoarse, raspy, and far from dainty but at the very least it was intelligible. The girl took a few seconds to process what she'd said before answering, "A-Amira."

"Amira, that's a cute name." Kohaku reached her hands out and let Amira take them when she felt comfortable. Once she did, Kohaku smiled warmly despite the chattering of both their teeth. "Amira, we need to look for a place to hide from the rain. Think you can help me with that?"

"B-But what about—" A thunder struck just as she looked up towards the ravine where they had just fallen.

Kohaku shook her head and stroke Amira's head. "I'll get you back, I promise. But I need to rest a little bit first. Can you help me?"

It must've done something to calm her down because Amira nodded timidly before getting up and coming to hug Kohaku's leg instead. The sudden hit made her dizzy again but once it settled, she smiled glad to have gotten through to her before the two started looking for some kind of shelter. Amira found one quickly enough, a small opening of caves some way from where they were. As she helped Kohaku there, Kohaku could hear the sound of the nearby river flowing rapidly. It must be picking up pace with the rain that was pouring. Once inside, Amira helped Kohaku down to sit before she reached out for Amira. Seeing her shake so much told her that the poor thing was freezing in her drenched clothes. If there was anything she was able to do, it'd be keep each other warm.

Amira curled up against Kohaku and she brought her arms around the girl to hold her close. It wasn't until she tried stroking her head to calm her that Kohaku noticed her right hand unresponsive. Her fingers were curled inward and her palm cramped. No matter what she did, her hand wouldn't undo itself. Could it be the hit from her head when she fell? Going back to that, she tried rebuilding her memories of the last few moments before the fall.

They were transporting the Baisè. It began to rain. The trail began to crumble beneath them. She and Seijin went to help and the road collapsed beneath her when she tried saving Amira. Seijin had reached down—her hand hadn't closed.

Her eyes came back to her crumpled hand finding that common factor she missed in the heat of the moment. Her hand hadn't responded. It hadn't grabbed onto Seijin's. And now it wasn't opening up anymore. Paralyzed, it seemed. The wind from outside sped up and swept inside the cave, making it howl loudly like a beast. Frightened by the sudden sound, Amira snuggled closer against Kohaku, her body shaking much more fiercely than before. Kohaku held her closer and rubbed her hands against her tiny arms, trying to keep her warm. At first she thought there was nothing to do to keep her from being scared but thinking again brought her an idea.

"Do you like dogs, Amira?"

The little girl, teeth chattering, lifted her gaze to meet Kohaku's. After a moment, she answered. "Yeah. Puppies and kitties are cute."

"They are. Do you have any?"

Amira shook her head. "Thelma won't let us have any pets. She says—it's already hard enough to take care of us."

The sentence confused Kohaku a bit. "You must have a lot of siblings then."

"I-I don't."

"But you said—"

"The other kids aren't my brothers or sisters," Amira corrected her. "They're just other kids. They're like me. We don't have families anymore. My uncle went to fight when the bad people attacked us. All the kids got put with Thelma until they came back. A lot of them didn't; Uncle didn't, either." The serious nonchalantness that she said it with made Kohaku gasp and instinctively hold her tighter. The little girl didn't complain, but tighten the hold on Kohaku's clothes.

"Amira, you're on your own then."

It wasn't a question. Just a crude statement of the truth and by the time she realized what she had said, Kohaku hated herself for saying it. Amira, however, didn't seem bothered by it. "Yeah, I am." Her tiny hands held her tighter until her knuckles turned white. "But I'm not sad anymore. I got past that sometime after Thelma told me. I cried a lot but—the elder told us that he's in a better place where they're never hungry or thirsty or hurt. A place where they're happy and waiting for us. Do you think he told us the truth?"

"I do think so," Kohaku replied after giving it some thought. When silence came over them, Kohaku became worried when she couldn't feel shivering anymore from the little girl. Glancing down, she saw Amira, eyes closed and breathing slow. "Amira, Amira," she repeated while shaking the little girl. "Amira, please, don't fall asleep. Wake up, Amira!" It took her that last shake for the girl to wake up a bit groggy before she started shivering again, her teeth chattering.

"I'm...sleepy, miss," Amira mumbled, her eyelids drooping.

"I know you are, but you can't fall asleep. Stay with me, okay?" Kohaku said a bit fast between her own chattering teeth. She couldn't let her fall asleep. Amira had already been in a poor diet and with how low her body temperature was the kid wouldn't handle sleep in her condition. She had to keep her awake. "Tell me more about your uncle."

"Uncle?" Amira repeated.

"Yes," Kohaku replied, smiling. She undid her the cloak she'd been wearing and placed it over Amira's body to keep the breeze away from the girl. Even damp, it could serve some purpose. "What did you two use to do together?"

"He'd take me hunting." Amira's grasp lessened but came back at intervals the more Kohaku moved around. "He was a very good warrior. He taught me how to use a bow and arrow."

"Really?" Kohaku asked, intrigued. "Did he take you out often?"

Amira nodded. "A lot of times. We caught a deer once."

"Wow," Kohaku said a little out of breath as she began to raise with Amira still in her arms.

When Amira noticed her rise from her sit, she glanced up at Kohaku. "Where are we going?"

"Out, Amira." Kohaku leaned back against the wall of the cave for a second to get her bearings and calm her dizziness. "We have to go out and search for something of mine to get us out of here."

"That weird..." Amira stopped mid sentence but her own chattering teeth woke her up again, "That weird stick?"

"Yes, my staff. But it's not a stick anymore, it's a feather." Kohaku struggled the first few steps she took towards the mouth of the cave but managed to reach. Even if the pace was slow, it would have to do. She felt a tiny bit better and even in her state it would have to be enough to find Beleth with Marbas. But as soon as she tried walking without much of anything to support herself with, she tumbled to her knees.

"You can't search for Beleth and carry the girl, my king."

"Amira." The girl lifted her head painfully slow and it worried Kohaku. "Can you walk, sweetie?"

Amira nodded slowly and when Kohaku let her on her feet she stumbled a few steps before standing up by herself. Instantly her hands went around herself as she began shivering and her teeth chattering. Kohaku thanked her, telling her she was being a really brave girl before she herself got up. Taking Amira by the hand, she took the girl out with her as they began to search for Beleth.

Marbas instantly helped her with a small weapon equip, long enough to sniff the feather's general direction out. Her head a muddied mess, Kohaku had to concentrate hard to know where she was going. "It's a red feather, Amira. We need to find it to get us out of here."

"O-Okay," the girl replied before turning every which way in search of the feather under the pouring rain. It was unbelievable that the storm hadn't subsided yet. Kohaku had been wrong to have labeled it as a mere warning pour. It meant to start the end of the drought. Their pace, although halting, soon brought them near the roaring river that overflowed out of its banks at a high speed.

"Be careful."

Amira nodded at the warning before the two started inspecting the terrain for her Metal Vessel. The loud thunder disrupted the drumming of the rain an instant before they heard a different kind of cracking. This time a tree that had been bashed against by the river's aggressive flow finally gave way and fell across it, making a path through the ferocious water snake. Kohaku drew back at the sound but slid and fell back to a sit, hissing at the agony a sheer fall like that caused her. Closing her eyes to bear with it as her breath hitched, Kohaku failed to hear Amira's shout over the rain.

Before she knew it, Amira had let go of her hand and ran in the direction of the fallen oak. Kohaku tried getting up but the quicker she did the faster it seemed she fell back down. Opting to shout as loud as she could with her hoarse voice, Kohaku began yelling for Amira to come back. The little girl didn't listen and Kohaku finally saw why as she stared at the crown of the fallen tree. Miraculously, her feathered pen stuck out like a sore thumb, red among the leaves. But her anxiety shot through the roofs when she caught sight of the little girl climbing onto the fallen trunk, anchoring herself with her arms and legs as she slid towards the other side to the feather. In a sporadic attempt to reach her, Kohaku tried getting up only to fall again and again with every step she took. Agony and worry wrenched her gut as she watched Amira finally reach the crown of the tree, her little arms stretched out to touch the feather. She took a foot onto a branch before jumping to get the feather but in doing so the branch broke off, letting Amira fall into the river as it clashed against her tiny body and swept her under.

Kohaku's heart stopped. Not wasting a breath and ignoring all she had in her, she jumped into the river and quickly began getting swept away as well. Unable to move much as one of her legs had already become numb, Kohaku opened her eyes to find Amira; the little girl, despite her tiredness, managed to grab onto a lose root. Using the river's momentum, she managed to move herself just in place to catch Amira in her arms. Kicking the best she could with one leg, she brought both their heads above water. The moment she did that she felt something puncture her hard on her back as Amira wrapped her arms around her neck to anchor herself. Reaching behind herself, she managed to grab Beleth's metal vessel in her good hand.

"My king!"

She'd never been happier to hear his voice. "Djinn of Vainglory and Champions—"

"But my king, your body can't—"

Kohaku struggled to kick herself to the surface as the river swept them further downstream. The moment she broke the surface again, she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Just do it!" The second the river swept her out again, she felt the familiar warmth of Beleth's powers as they surrounded her and enveloped her completely in her djinn equip. Recognizing the wooden surface of her sound staff, she took all the strength she could muster to kick out against the water. The particles vibrated and pulsed back with tenfold of the intensity, propelling them out of the river and high, high up in the air, over the forests.

Her arm with the crumpled hand starting to give way as well, she shouted for Amira to hold as tight as she could. The girl did but weakly and Kohaku focused her vision the best she could until she found blurred lights not far. As gravity began to take her down again, she created a crescent wall of air to let her feet touch. Her right leg dragged along but her left bent low and was enough to let her use at least one ability.

Dajij 'Aghlal.

Her feet, hands, and staff were surrounded by circlets of bright green light a second before she propelled herself at high speeds towards the clearing.

This whole situation was beginning to upset Kouen. After having the Baisè safely allocated further in with proper care and shelter, he mobilized the leftover units for the search. He and Koumei remained behind having to deal with two things at the same time and instead sent out soldiers along with Seishuu Ri and Kin Gaku. But the more the soldiers and his own Household Members returned without sighting either Kohaku or the Baisè girl she'd gone to rescue, the more something festered in him.

"Anything?" he asked a bit impatiently at Koumei who was at standby with the magicians that converged their split search parties.

"No," Koumei replied. Although hiding it, Koumei pursed his lips in concern. "Her vassal said she suffered some kind of head injury. Do you think her capable of moving around as she is?"

"With the Baisè girl with her? Yes." Kouen had the suspicion that that folly of Kohaku's reared it's ugly head again as it'd done to make her risk her life so rashly for the kid. And if he knew anything of that idiotic flaw of hers, then he was more than sure that she'd try something stupid if it safeguarded the girl with her. And that would just make their search harder. "Have Seishuu Ri and Kin Gaku search down the river as well, it could've swept them—"

"General Commander!" Both princes turned at hearing Seijin's shout as he rushed through the opening of their encampment. Out of breath, Seijin could only repeat "she's here" over and over before darting back out. Not missing a beat, Kouen and Koumei followed with Koumei mobilizing the unit of healers they'd kept at bay. They followed the boy close to the mountain's edge where, from afar, Kouen could just see a speck of red. At first, he couldn't distinguish her and it wasn't until they were a few feet away that he saw Beleth's djinn equip on Kohaku.

Hair red as hellfire was held up into an adorned bun high on the back of her head that let long tresses of it run free down to her hips. Thin ram horns curled up once around on either side of her head, the tips pointed slightly upward forming a circlet-like silhouette that was adorned in blooming white lilies. Her upper body was mostly bare; the white doric chiton that she wore was loose on her chest and loosely wrapped around her arms, leaving her shoulders, collar bone, and the top of her breasts bare with the rest falling down against her arms. Thin chains of gold wrapped around her neck freely, the loosest one having a bright diamond-shaped ruby that rested just between her breasts. Two medals held the silk, loose fabric against her chest attached a bit below her shoulders, leaving her back down to her tail bone exposed. The skirt of the tunic was skewed in length and reached just below her thighs with her left one slightly barer. A transparent sarong of gold and red hues was wrapped around her hips, a belt of golden hoops hinging on them, and the fabric flowing down to her ankles. Both her arms and feet were bare except for gold bands around her forearms and dangling around her ankles. Against her gold sash that hovered around her, white lilies, along with other white buds, adorned it.

All was matted tight against her drenched body as she leaned against her sound staff, one of her legs languidly being dragged along. Curiously enough, no more rain touched them as the vibrations from her staff created a sphere that simply toppled the water droplets off. Her eyes dazed and dilated kept blinking until she narrowed them to see them—no, she made direct eye contact with him. Instantly, she began taking steps towards him and Kouen noticed the distinct path her vibrations were making. Every step she took flatten a small pit beneath them, leaving behind nothing but pulverized granite in the hole.

Seijin was the first to burst through the crowd and attempt to reach her but bounced back at meeting the edge of her sphere. Kouen was surprised, to say the least, that she'd purposely kept her vassal away. Her paces were getting slower but she was still determined to reach him. So instead he cut the distance short and walked the steps that separated them. Curiously, she allowed him through the barrier of sound; he felt the popping of his ears the moment he came through and closer to her.

"General." But she didn't respond. Instead she forcefully shoved the girl towards him making him catch her in his arms. Before he could even inquire about her actions, he barely caught the sound of a hoarse voice.

"...heal her."

The initial shock wore off quickly enough before he reached up to the little girl's neck to find a barely palpable pulse. Not missing the stride of what she'd meant by bringing her to him, Kouen drew out his sword and with the hilt facing the Baisè girl, let Phenex's metal vessel fall directly onto the little girl's chest. Summoning her powers, the wings of the coral-colored bird spread out before cradling the body of the young child. Within seconds, some warmth returned to Amira's body as she began shivering fiercely once more. She took a deep breath before her eyes groggily opened, turning to face Kohaku who was smiling back.

"I found...your feather." Innately, her tiny hands reached to take hold of whatever was closest and grasped the metal ornament that rested on her body.

Kohaku nodded a few times, her crumpled hand brushing the hair away from her face. "...thank you, Amira." He'd heard the hoarse voice again and this time, despite its volume just shy of a whisper, he knew its origin.

Amira weakly smiled before fainting, her breathing back to normal despite the shivering. Unable to keep standing any longer, Kohaku fell to her knees, her djinn equip completely vanishing in a burst of golden dust. Kouen immediately called for the healers, that took the girl from him first. Before they even had time to reach her though, Kouen felt the tight grasp she took of his cloak making him hastily turn her way. What he heard genuinely disturbed him. Kohaku was gasping loudly but it didn't sound right. Bending down to get a better view, he lifted her face to see her grasping desperately at her throat, only breathless urgent gasps coming.

"Damn." Not waiting for them, he picked her up and took her himself to the healers' quarters as they followed just a few steps behind. All the while, he kept hearing the horrible breathless gasps she took along with the incessant scratching at her throat. Lying her down, he took his sword and summoned Phenex once more. The coral-colored wings cradled her this time but the horrid gasping of hers wasn't going away. "Phenex!"

"It's noxious, my king," she quickly explained as she continued to work. "It's foreign to her body and it's taking longer to get rid of."

But thankfully, as soon as she had finished that sentence, Kohaku took the biggest gasp of air that she managed to get. She panted heavily but it seemed that at least now she could breathe properly. Drawing back, he ordered the healers to examine her. With their orders given, they went to work with it while giving him a count of the injuries she'd sustained. Head injury, some external cuts and wounds, fever, cold exposure, and numb or stiff extremities. It baffled the healers to find such distinct symptoms on her, especially when they didn't seem to connect to one another.

"It's the noxious material I found in her body, King Kouen," Phenex said. "The fever from the exposure triggered the extreme effects of it: the stiffness of muscles and the paralysis that came over her internal organs."

You're telling me she was poisoned?

"Yes, my king." Kouen quickly informed them of what Phenex had found and they acted quickly, having some antidotes at hand for what she'd described to him. "From the signs of her body, it seemed it had been coursing through her veins in very miniscule amounts for at least twenty-four hours already. As is, if they had taken their intended course through her body, she would have experienced limb paralysis or at the very least impaired control of her extremities."

It explained what he remembered Seijin telling him; she hadn't grabbed his hand back then because she couldn't. What else?

"Whatever occurred during her endeavors after the fall must have aggravated the toxin even in its small amounts. In its full dosage, it could have very well shut down her entire system, effectively causing a swift albeit painful death."

He mulled over that bit of information until the healers informed him that the antidotes had worked and her muscles had begun to relax which meant that whichever had been the affected organs had already began to relax as well. Ordering them to attend to her and the girl, he exited the tent. The rain had come to a soft drizzle outside and Koumei was managing the situation with the Baisè still. His household members accompanied him along with Seijin but the boy had a more than blanched expression on his face. Coming up to him, Kouen allowed him to leave. Seijin thanked him before he rushed away towards the healers' tent.

Koumei finished his briefing to the soldiers before turning to his brother, "Is she—"

"Yes," Kouen replied. He turned to Seishuu Ri and Kin Gaku before sending them off to prepare the Baisè for departure. Once alone with Koumei, he continued, "She was poisoned."

The second prince's first thought was the Baisè but he quickly withdrew that possibility. Kohaku knew to always cordially decline any offer of food when negotiating; it'd been a lesson he taught her himself. But then...how?

It took his brother adding more information to help him delve on that question further. "Phenex found that it already had time to course through her body."

This interested Koumei greatly. "For how long?"

"A day."

A day? Koumei quickly found his answer then. "She ingested it at the palace." Koumei tapped his chin with his fan, mulling over the information. "That's disconcerting."

"Very," Kouen agreed. "Ensure protocol is followed on that end when we return."

"Of course, my brother and king." Koumei hesitated for a second before asking, "Will she be informed about it?"

"Not of what's to follow; the less she knows, the easier it will be to find who's responsible." Kouen sighed in frustration. This was supposed to be an fairly easy mission for them all and it turned out to uncover some more dirty secrets back home. "Inform me when she's regained consciousness. I'll question her myself on the matter."

But the poisoning was only one of the things he truly wanted to ask about. The other, well...he had questions to ask this "mute" woman.

At first Kohaku saw nothing but white. It wasn't until her vision cleared that she noticed she was under shelter, a tent. Not only that but she felt warm and her ears weren't buzzing as loudly anymore. Her head still ached, though, and it made her dizzy again when she tried to sit up.

"Easy there." Hearing the familiar voice, she turned slightly to see Seijin as he stood up from his place to help her sit up. Once done, he noticed the puzzled expression on her face and it made him smile. "You made it back safely with Amira, Miss Kohaku. Both of you have been treated and are recuperating well. You're at the encampment on the other side of the mountain range." Knowing her usual routine, he took the small box he had within reach and placed it on her lap. "Both metal vessels are safe and sound as well." Kohaku breathed a sigh of relief.

Testing her hands, Kohaku made her hands into fists before undoing them, once then twice. Nothing felt out of order. With that certainty, he signed his way. "How long have I been out?"

"Only a day."

Seijin came up from his sit and began attending to the injuries she did have that were still healing. The puncture wound from Beleth's pen on her back was well. As for the head injury, it seemed to have been just a contusion. The blunt force would have made it hard for her to move or even keep her balance according to him. That explained much to her. All the while he did this, he briefed her on what she'd missed the day she'd been unconscious. So far, the Baisè had already signed their surrender to the Kou Empire. It seemed that after the show of rescue for Amira, the chieftain had changed his mind about her at least. Kohaku could say that was a win on as far as she was concerned. The tribe would be transferred with transfer magic circles once everybody was in condition to move. It seemed that would take place later that day since they were only waiting on a few people, herself included.

"Also, some soldiers came by." At Kohaku's puzzled expression, he elaborated "Some of the northern battalion had been stationed here with us without our knowledge. Their letters arrived a few hours ago and they had wanted to give their testimony in person to you. I took it in the end since you weren't in the best of shape to talk."

"Thank you, Seijin." Everything seemed fine from what he saw and she thanked him again for it. Turning to the bed beside hers, she caught sight of Amira sleeping soundly in the healers' tent. "Is she doing all right?"

"Same as you when you both got here: fever from exposure, some cuts and bruises, and disorientation when she woke up. Apart from that, she only needs rest." Seijin went over to check on the girl when asked and sat between the two beds as he continued their conversation. "She asked about you when she first woke."

"Did she?"

He nodded. "She asked about you, said thanks, then passed out again. Must be tired, the poor thing. Her caretaker came by as well wanting to thank you for saving her."

"Thelma's her name, I think." At the reminder, Kohaku signed out at Seijin, "Remember that other list I had you compile?"

"Other list—you mean the endowments?" Kohaku nodded and signed away at what she wanted him to do. They were quite a few rearrangements he'd have to do on that ledger with what she asked. "Are you certain about this? You're already endorsing two; a third could greatly cut into not only your supply but theirs as well."

"I'll figure a way to raise those numbers to make it even between the three without cutting on any end."

That was a solution, sure, but Seijin had his doubts. Doubts that quickly disappeared when he saw that cheeky grin on his master's face. "All right, I'll do them."

"Now."

"Now?"

Her smiled widened as she nodded. "They'll need the help once they get instated into our city and the one there is plenty full to make any more accommodations for them. Can you make do with the hours we have left here?"

"You have too much faith in my abilities," he joked with a scoff.

"I have faith enough. I know you can do it, Jin. It'll be easy!"

The enthusiasm she put on it made him chuckle and shake his head before agreeing. "And I'm not one to disappoint, am I? I'll go ahead and get started but I'll come around from time to time to see how you both are doing," he commented before he got up from his seat and headed out.

Kohaku watched his retreating back and only after he was gone did she lean back against the small backrest of the bed. But whatever peace of mind she thought she could have quickly vanished when she heard a ruckus coming from outside. It wasn't that loud which told her that despite the slight buzzing, her ears had returned to normal. The voices were still indistinguishable, so it wasn't until Kouen walked in that she knew who it was. For once, his expression held a hint of something she seldom saw on him; it was akin to annoyance bordering anger or perhaps discontent spiraling down to frustration. Whichever one it was, it clearly wasn't good.

"Your highness—" she stopped in the midst of her signing when she clearly heard him click his tongue. Annoyance; it was annoyance bordering anger. His strides led him to the foot of her bed and before she could even sign anything he spoke leaving no room for discussion.

"Speak."

The mere command—so forceful and demanding—left her a bit confused. Wanting to relate that, she raised her hands again. "I can't—" But he clicked his tongue again and that attitude began infecting her as well. Frowning, she tried signing again to finish her sentence, "You know I can't speak." Without saying a word, Kouen took the few strides it took to get to the side of her bed before grabbing both of her smaller hands in his. She tried pulling them away but he kept his hold and simply glared her way.

"I won't repeat myself again: Do not lie to my face."

Red eyes tinted gold glared at her own bright blue and she couldn't stray away from them. Her mind raced with thoughts as to how he could be so adamant about her speaking. It wasn't until she briefly recalled landing near the encampment after finding Beleth that ideas starting coming to mind. She wasn't sure whether she had actually asked him for his help verbally. From what she remembered, everything was blurry and toned out. What she had cared about then was getting Amira the help she needed—if she actually spoke, she didn't recall.

But he's not faltering. He's sure of what he's accusing me of.

And that gave her at least some semblance of an answer. Her head turned slightly to Amira who was still asleep and her eyes trailed behind him subtlety making sure no one would hear her this time.

"...I can explain." This time Kouen's frustration was blatant as he brusquely let go of his hold on her hands. Kohaku didn't hesitate then when she saw him with the intent to leave. "No, please don't."

Letting his emotions simmer, he stopped and turned to face her. "Explain yourself."

Kohaku's fingers trailed up to her throat to her scar before swallowing hard. "I couldn't speak...after the incident. It came back like this after a while and it hurts when I speak."

"Magicians could have healed it. If not fully, they could have made it easier to speak if you would have been treated. Why not seek them?"

At that question, Kohaku pursed her lips. He was prying in business she didn't want to dwell in. As it was, she was already on thin ice with him knowing.

"My king, please," Beleth pleaded. "Tell him the truth."

I can't...if I do—

"Answer me this instant."

The sheer tone of his voice frightened her but she had to answer with something. "I hadn't wanted it fixed so I didn't tell anybody about it returning. It's for the best...if I don't speak."

"It's best?" Kouen's intrigue on her choice of words didn't go unchecked by Kohaku. Damn, she forgot for an instant that every word she spoke would be highly scrutinized by him. For whatever reason—anger at being lied to, of everyone being lied to— he was adamant to have the truth. "Did someone compel you not to get treatment?"

Kohaku vehemently shook her head urgently trying to dispel his doubts but failing miserably. "It was mine. I decided not to." Instead of letting herself be led by the collar into an even deeper hole, she opted to act herself. "There was no point in restoring it when no one listened. Might as well be as subservient as they made me out to be."

He scoffed at this and came back to the side of the bed. "You are impulsive, you are voluble even without speaking, and you have the most non-existent instinct of self-preservation I have ever seen on any person. Where you are concerned, subservient isn't exactly the word I would use."

"Then we'll agree to disagree." Those words were out of her before she even realized it and it made her covers her lips with her fingers. She was so used to having to sign without having her every thought spill that it was happening now inadvertently. "Besides what does it matter? I've done my job fine without it."

"That isn't the issue." Kouen sighed, his irritation seemingly faltering as he thought over things. "Regardless of the reasons, there will be a need to question your family. If not about your voice then about—"

"You ca—" The sudden raspy screech of her voice and the loud thud that came after brought his attention back to her. Kohaku cursed under her breath as she tried getting up by herself but her legs, weak as they still were, weren't responding. Even using the bed to lean on wasn't enough to pull herself up as her arms gave way as well. Cursing again, she was determined to rise and stop him but she didn't need to move much before his shadow came over her. Lifting her gaze, she saw him bending down to grab her left arm against his own and reaching for her right hand to help her back up. Embarrassed of being so feeble but needing the help nonetheless, Kohaku held onto his arm and hand as he helped her back up. Kouen felt her whole body shaking from forcing her body to remain upright even with his help; the poison, despite being mostly gone, had left powerful effects on her system. Despite that he still felt the light grasp she took on his arm and hand before looking up at him with a determined gaze. "Please don't inform them. I'll do whatever I have to but they can't find out."

Kouen heard the slight shakiness of her voice or perhaps it had just been the hoarseness getting offhand with her talking so much. Whichever the case was, he heard the same kind of emotions he saw flourish many times before when he looked at her in the eye or paid attention to her body language. Determined would be an understatement but he couldn't think of any other word to describe what he saw before him. And it only ignited his curiosity further as to what made her be so on edge.

"Does this have to do with whomever poisoned you?"

"Poison?"

Her voice shook again and he plainly heard her shock and confusion. Kouen helped her sit back down at the edge of the bed before continuing with the conversation. And it was one that they needed to have for information she might have. "Poison was found running through your system. It's cleared but it had time to course."

Kohaku looked askance, her hands opening and closing as if remembering the sensation of numbness again at the mere mention. "But...it's gone?"

"All you're feeling now must be side-effects of it exiting your body," he informed her. "Have you noticed any suspicious activity around you?"

She shook her head languidly before her arms came up around herself. "No. I haven't."

The answer itself created turmoil in him. The woman he saw before him clearly was scared but it was hard to decipher what had her that way. Was it the fact that someone had poisoned her or that she actually knew more than she was telling him? If he knew something about this woman was that if he badgered her the right way, she'd cave in but that was the last thing he wanted to do to her in her condition. Not to mention that badgering a woman for answers wasn't what he wanted to do in the least.

But he still did have a quarrel to resolve with her. "You shouldn't let what others think about you or what they do control you to such degree." When she lifted her gaze with a perplexed frown, he elaborated. "You said you didn't want your voice back since no one listened. That's a petty excuse to run away from your problems."

"What can you possibly know about that?" The moment she spoke that, her hands came up to cover her mouth. Like before, he noted how much more truthful she'd become without any physical reign to keep her down. It fired her and brought something new to her. At least new in terms that he hadn't seen before.

"Enough to plainly see you running from them. Without a voice to speak you avoid clear confrontations with deceitful smiles and cordialities. You're far too boisterous to be even remotely satisfied with whatever results that gets you." Kohaku opened her mouth to protest but after a few seconds to think about it, she closed it back up with a slight frown. "Unlike your siblings, you think and act according to what's in front of you, moved by what problems you think most important." He'd seen plenty of that when she put so much importance to her siblings or to his own. She was moved to action and thought when it moved her emotions.

It's what made her an exceptional human being but clearly left things to be desired for her as a general amidst war.

"You could do best with a voice of your own to speak with, both figuratively and literally." This confused her once more but he expected such. After all, he had already made his mind all the while she'd been recovering. "You came here to be tested and I have seen, for the most part, what you are capable of. Although you lack experience in some aspects, you are qualified to lead an army and strategize on your own."

The instant he said those words he couldn't believe how large her eyes became, a slight glint shimmering in her stark blue eyes. "...are you saying—"

"I didn't finish." Kouen allowed her to calm down before continuing. "I am ready to give your father that recommendation. In exchange, I want to amend the terms I had laid in the beginning."

"Amend them how?"

"Let healers treat you."

This certainly perplexed her enough to speak. "I don't think..." she gulped, trying to alleviate the burning sensation. "It's too damaged and it's been far too long since I got injured. It must be scarred past the point of curing it with remedies."

"Then let me treat you with Phenex."

Kohaku shook her head adamant on his stand. "Why are you so insistent?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"Yes," she declared with a glare. "It's my body you are fiddling with. And prince or not, I have a right to have a say in what's done to me and why."

Persistent herself, he thought, but he understood. That didn't mean his answer had to be 100% truthful. "You have potential and it's exploitable. Is that good enough?"

"No." She sighed, however, as if defeated. "But I can tell when I'm fighting a losing battle. You're as stubborn as I am or so Koumei tells me." She covered her mouth again—a tattletale he'd learned in the extent of their conversation to figure she hadn't meant to say that aloud—before shaking her head and redirecting the conversation back. "If you treating me is what it takes for this to remain between us then I'll do it."

"You agree?" he asked incredulous that it had been that easy.

That ticked her off a bit. "Unlike any idea you may have, I learned to recognize when I've been cornered and have to back down. Regrettably that happens more often with you than I'd like to admit."

"That is fine by me." The ruckus that came from outside brought their attentions and made him heave a sigh. "For the meanwhile, we'll wait for the Baisè and for you to recover."

"The healers said I only need a day or so to recover the strength in my body," she told him.

"We'll have most of the tribe moved by then. Focus on resting so you can mobilize the last of the troops by tomorrow's end."

Kouen started heading out with that in mind but before he could leave he heard the faintest 'thank you' before leaving the tent. He didn't know what there was to thank him for. The only thing he had done was blackmail, exploit, and harass her to accept his terms. Even he wasn't sure if she'd been smart in accepting a mere recommendation as her father's second-in-command in exchange; to him, it wasn't worth the payment she'd have to give. Then again she didn't seem as oblivious about what he meant as he thought she'd be. Kohaku seemed to understand all he had told her. A question she'd poised, though, lingered quietly at the back of his mind.

"Why are you so insistent?"

If he had to be truthful, he partially didn't know. Of course he knew that having her at her best, both as a general and Metal Vessel user, would be better for his plans on expanding to the west. It was why he'd trained her himself, why he allowed Koumei to teach her as well. It also explained why he wanted to figure out who poisoned her; she was a valuable asset that he couldn't afford to lose. Then there were the parts he didn't understand. In his mind, he couldn't understand why he'd let his anger fester when he found out she'd lied about being unable to speak. The other thing he didn't understand even more was that he'd offer Phenex to heal her. Had it been any other case, he would've been satisfied with whatever the healers were capable of doing and not prod any further on the issue. With her, while he hadn't lied about knowing that if given a louder voice to speak with, she would become a mightier asset, he also knew it didn't just boil down to that.

The worst part was that he knew it but couldn't define it. And that really bothered him.

In all certainty, Kohaku had gotten much better with the treatment and a day's rest. Dawn at its peak, she got herself dressed noticing no one was there to bother her. Once ready with both Beleth and Marbas on her person, she headed out. True to his word, most of the Baisè were already gone with only some few tents left, some of which were soldiers left behind to serve under her command. If anything, only a few families were left and they would be left to transfer back to the city. That would be a job that landed on her along with preparing the small group of soldiers that would remain behind to await further orders on what would happen with their new acquired territory.

"Miss Kohaku." Turning, she found Seijin running up to her with a smile on his face and scrolls in his arms. "It's so good to see you up and about again."

"It feels good to be up and about again." She gave the place a final look around before she took one large breath. "All right, Jin. Tell me what's this beast I've got to tackle today." Pride and happiness brimming of off his smile, he began detailing all that needed to be done by the day's end to officially finish the expedition. Both princes had left with the majority of the battalion and Baisè back into the city in order to accommodate them there. The few still recovering where hers to relocate along with the troops she had prepared.

"The load doesn't seem heavy, though," Seijin commented before turning to her with concern etched on his face. "Are you sure you are well enough to do this?"

"No problem. I feel excellent. Let's get the people and prepare channels ready to get them going, yeah?"

Seijin couldn't help but be infected by the giddiness that his master overflowed with. It certainly helped during the half day it took to get all things in order. Seijin took the Baisè and readied them while Kohaku got the troops to place the perimeter necessary for what would come next to happen as swiftly as possible. The few times he came to her was to verify where the tribe was to stay and before they knew it, they returned to the Rakushou. Because of some issues still left to do, they still had to stay in the area where they had established them to put some things in order. So for the time being they were patrolling the streets of that small place.

"Have they all been given proper shelter and necessities?" Kohaku asked as they strolled through the area where the Baisè now walked freely.

"Yes and yes," Seijin affirmed, checking things on his meticulous lists. Putting those away he came to take another scroll out. "Also, I managed to put the endowments the way you asked me, Miss Kohaku. The orphan houses in Shika and Rakushou will be fine financially and although it will cumber more cost for its construction, the second house in Rakushou will be done by week's end. For the time being they will remain in separate housing."

"Well done. I knew you could do it."

"Wasn't easy," Seijin added with a wry smile. "Also, there's a meeting this afternoon for you and the rest of your siblings."

Kohaku turned a bit confused about that but before she got the time to ask, she heard the fast pace of tiny feet coming her way. Turning about to see what it was, Kohaku got taken aback when a small child tackled her. Thankfully she had the time to hold her own and avoid falling but the sudden attack left her confused.

"Lady!"

That voice...

Glancing down, Kohaku met Amira's gentle gaze and toothy smile as the little girl grabbed on the skirts of her ruqun. There was no helping the grin that came to Kohaku as she bent down to pick the girl up to hold her tightly. The laughter that rang through was infectious to Seijin as he saw the two from a small distance. Kohaku finally put her down and signed at Seijin to translate.

"How are you, Amira?"

The girl stared at Seijin and then at Kohaku perplexed by the action. But Kohaku simply laid a finger on her lips before she mimicked closing her lips shut. The gesture didn't alleviate any of her confusion but she went with it and answer Kohaku while not even looking at Seijin. "I'm good. Much better too!"

"That's good to hear." Seeing the opportunity, Kohaku asked about their stay. "How are you liking it here so far?"

"It's okay," she said with a puff of her cheeks. She brushed her hands against the green clothes that covered her now, her grimace showing some discomfort. "The clothes are kind of weird. I don't really like green."

Kohaku wouldn't argue with her on that. Green wasn't a suitable color in her opinion either. Especially when it denoted where she stood in society. Not wanting to drop such huge load of information on such young kid, she opted to ask about other things. "What about where you're living now?"

"Oh!" Amira, instantly perked up and the smile returned to her face. "It's a little cramp because all of us are living there but Thelma says we're going to get a new home soon. And it's gonna be just for us!"

"I sure hope you like it then."

"Yeah, I can't wait to see it." Amira jumped a bit and reached out to grab Kohaku's hand before dragging her away.

"B-But the meeting—" Seijin begin to protest as he followed behind them but Kohaku quieted him, signing that a few minutes wouldn't hurt. Amira led them to an old home around the area. Although Kohaku knew it wasn't suitable for housing a large amount of children, she figured that it'd be enough for the week until the new home was finished building. The thing was that when she thought of large she imagined maybe ten or fifteen children. What she found inside was a little more than that.

Amira dragged them into the home without announcment and brought them to the living room where most of the kids were playing. Kohaku and Seijin both gasped at the sheer amount. Seijin counted under his breath before turning to her once more. "Thirty-four. That's odd; I could've sworn I counted twenty-three when I first allocated them here." With that question in mind, he turned to Amira. "Did more kids come in?"

She nodded to the question but didn't seem particularly bothered by the amount of kids. Instead a large grin came to her lips as she came over to the kids, cupping her hands against her mouth and hollering at the rest. Like a pack of animals, they all perked and turned their heads their way. A chill ran down both their backs as they were eyed by thirty-four pairs of wide eyes. and here she thought she was good under pressure. Who would've thought that a hoard of kids, from toddlers to one's as old as Amira, would make her fear for sweet life.

As if sensing her fear, the children rushed their way all at once. Huddling closer to her and trapping them in a circle, the kids spoke all at once asking questions after questions. After a few seconds of it her ears started to hurt. Luckily, Seijin had the mind to shout out louder than them to get their attention.

"How about you all get one question?" He turned tentatively to her and Kohaku nodded. Thirty-four questions wouldn't be bad to answer.

He got them to line up before they started asking away. Some questions were kind of cute. Why was her hair such a bright color? Why couldn't she speak? Was the palace food tasty? Was she there to play with them? To most questions like those, she had simple answers.

Then came the little harder ones. Why did they have to wear different clothes? Would they be safe from the 'bad people' that had attacked them before? Would they be forced to work now that they were orphans? And then the one question that tore her heart that a small toddler asked as she plucked her thumb from her mouth.

"Is daddy coming home?"

Kohaku felt her throat run dry. "No...he's not. And I'm really sorry about that." Kneeling down before the little girl, she picked her up in her arms and held her tightly before signing at Seijin again. "But you won't be left alone. Everyone here is the same and we all have to take care of each other."

The toddler gave the other kids a glance before turning up to Kohaku. "Are they my family?"

"If that's what you want, yes," Kohaku explained. "But I promise you, if you stay together and take care of each other, then I'll be sure that nothing bad ever happens to you again."

The little girl wrapped her arms around Kohaku's neck, returning the gesture. A few of the children, hearing her declaration, came to her and clung to the skirts of her ruqun, Amira among them. The others who were a little older and found no room simply huddled closer around and smiled. Unable to keep her happiness, Kohaku held the girl tightly with one arm while stroking the heads of the others with her free hand.

Undoing their hold and putting her down, Kohaku grinned and turned to grab one of the balls that had been lying about from them playing. Lifting her skirt, she threw the ball in the air before lightly kicking it their way. The mass of children chirped up instantly as they began playing around with. Seijin watched from afar and kept track of time. After a while he intervened, saying she would have to retire back soon for the meeting.

Multiple groans came through the air at hearing this and Kohaku smiled wryly their way as an apology.

"Now children," all heads turned at the booming voice of Thelma, the caretaker the Baisè had previously assigned to the orphans. "It's time to wash up for dinner. Away with all of you now."

Chuckles and giggles erupted at that playful scolding before they scattered about to do as they were told. Amira waved back as she left. Kohaku waved back before lifting her finger to her lips. Reciprocating the gesture, Amira shushed herself before scampering off.

"They're a rowdy bunch, those pumpkins," Thelma called with a huff.

"It's good they're well behaved then," Seijin pointed out.

Thelma agreed before she turned to face Kohaku. A bit self-conscious but able to control herself, she smiled before signing at Seijin. "Thank you for agreeing to continue to watch over them as caretaker of the new orphan home."

"The job isn't anything hard. I like the little pumpkins," she dismissed with ease. "But from what you say, you're the general that the chieftain talked about, the one that saved little Amira." Kohaku affirmed this, quickly saying that it'd been nothing which made Thelma scoff. "I wouldn't call that nothing. And now they tell me you're in charge of that nifty building they're making for the kids and of the education plan for both homes here? That definitely ain't nothing. I thank you, not just for that but for giving these children something to work towards to."

Kohaku smiled and said nothing in return. Instead she excused themselves before they started heading back to the palace.

She had gotten used to the gratitude from the people she inadvertently helped: the soldiers and the orphans. Yet no matter how giddy their gratitude made her, she couldn't rightfully accept it. Everything she did was due to selfish reasons, it just so happened that doing what she did helped others. To her it was a happy coincidence but nothing to be thanked for.

But the surprises didn't stop there. Another one came along during the meeting where Kouen and Koumei informed them about the results of Kohaku's examination.

"I'm sorry," Sousei said somewhat confused but unable to stop the grin that perked at the edge of his lips. "Could you repeat that?"

Sighing in some frustration, Kouen motioned for Koumei to repeat what he'd just said. Promptly, the younger prince followed, "My brother and king has approved of General Kohaku's progress and thusly has informed General Koujiro of her status. That and with both of our recommendations, it has been petitioned for him to annul her previous decision and to institute her as his second-in-command."

"In addition," Kouen interjected before the twins exploded in excitement. "Under my recommendation, there will be no further need for Masami to attend as strategist."

Speechless, Kohaku had to remind herself to breathe when the twins finally burst out in joy. She couldn't keep from smiling at them but had to control herself when Masami stepped up to speak.

"Is that your highness' final decision?" she prudently asked but Kohaku heard a tinge of annoyance underlying her voice.

Kouen nodded. "Despite the fact that there are still things to be desired of her as interim general, she's proved herself capable."

As his brother spoke, Koumei eyed the siblings gathered in their council room that evening. The twins were more ecstatic about the results of their perseverance for their sister. Kohaku, although not explicit about it, was grinning apparently pleased. If anything, he saw disappointment in Masami's eyes. The woman quickly hid it with a warm smile before bowing. "If that is your decision, then I accept, your highness." Turning to the other three, she faced away but Koumei noticed the distinct paleness that took over Kohaku as her grin faltered. "Congratulations, Kohaku. You well deserve what you've earn."

Kohaku's demeanor changed then and become more reclusive. Hanging her head low, she gave a meek grin to Sousei and Suisei to let them calm down. Once they did, Masami turned to face them and all four bowed with a solute.

A wry smile on her face now, Kohaku addressed them one last time. "Thank you. I am aware of my shortcomings and I won't stop training or studying until I have come to meet both of your expectations."

"That is what we hope," Kouen announced before dismissing them.

With that the four siblings left the council room and once outside, the twins couldn't help their enthusiasm as all four of them walked to their rooms.

"We did it!" Suisei shouted. It seemed that out of the four she was the most elated about it.

"You mean she did it," Sousei corrected with a nudge at Kohaku. "Got to admit, I was a bit disheartened when you decided not to take us."

"Yeah, what was up with that?"

"It was a test for me. What good would it have been if I'd taken you guys?"

"True," the two replied in unison with a shrug of their shoulders.

Sousei stretched his arms over his head with a satisfied sigh. "At least with this father will see past your refusal. With the type of endorsement you're getting, he's got to let you in regardless."

"And Sou'll have someone to learn from when he gets out there too," Suisei pointed out. Sousei didn't reproach her for it but did give her a light punch on the shoulder.

"Now children, it's time to head to bed." All heads turned to Masami when she mentioned this. The twins were a bit perplexed; seeing as it was barely the late evening, they wanted some time to celebrate. This, apparently clear on their faces, got Masami to gently frown. "It's been a long day for us all. And bare in mind that Kohaku's been home for only a couple of days. It wasn't a very easy task either, she must need her rest."

At saying this, Masami glanced back at Kohaku with a small gaze. Despite how small it was, she clearly saw the glint from before during the meeting. Not wanting to anger her any further, she nodded at the twins with a reassuring smile. "She's right. It's still a little tiring. I'll be fine with some rest."

The twins shared glance among themselves before agreeing and turning for the night to their rooms. Once the two had left, Masami didn't say one word. Instead she took definite strides to Kohaku's room and opened the door to walk inside, leaving it open. Knowing that whatever awaited her inside wouldn't be good, she took a step forward but stop briefly remembering a few words.

"You shouldn't let what others think about you or what they do control you to such degree."

It was easy to think about things in such way when his life wasn't so directly affected by someone. He has a title, a place in the world that belonged to him and that none could take away. Hers was a meaningless existence. One so fragile and unstable that she feared a simple misstep would shatter everything and hurt the people she loved most. That, again, she would make a mistake and lose it all. And for that not to happen, she had to appease the monster inside her room.

Taking one last breath, she went in. As she thought, Masami was already preparing items for what was to come, some Kohaku knew and some she didn't. But her sister tended to get creative with her tortures when she was particularly angry. Those times she hated most.

Once ready, Masami motioned down to the space she'd cleared up in the middle of her room. Kohaku, knowing the protocol, slowly came up to it and stood before her. The first order came quick, "Strip." She flinched at the harsh tone but did as she was told quickly and quietly. Masami came back with a few needles that in the gaslight gleamed a strange dark purple. She eyed them under the light as she came back to Kohaku. "Such a disappointment that my experiments were stopped prematurely. Seriously, they act like I would have killed you. I know my studies, goodness."

Bending down, she stuck one of the needles on Kohaku's forearm making her flinch at the stab. Instead of retracting it, though, Masami left it in place. Kohaku felt a chill run through the inside of her arm, like iced water going through her veins before she felt nothing at all. It paralyzed her arm?

"Now, because of their interventions, I have to perform my own tests. And here I wanted to keep my hands clean." Masami strode to her other side and did the same to her other arm, the coldness quickly changing to numbness. It wasn't until the second one that she knew what Masami was pricking her with: poison.

After the second stab, Masami ordered her to lay down on her bed. Reluctantly, she did so and found it a bit hard to do with her arms unable to move. She hadn't expected the effects to be so fast. Had she heightened its effects somehow? Kohaku fought the urge to shut her eyes, her breathing erratic, as Masami came forward. She ran the tip of the needle across her thighs, scraping as it went.

"That's not the worst part though." Without warning, she stabbed the needle against her thigh, hard enough to make Kohaku gasp loudly. "The worst part is that you present yourself like some kind of hero. A savior, selfless and brave." She scoffed and before her other leg had began to numb, she stabbed the last needle on her other thigh and this time twisting it around for some good measure. "You're nothing but a murderer."

Kohaku bit her lip, wanting the furious digging to end or at least for the poison to take effect and let her not feel it as Masami dug the hole deeper. The latter came sooner and gave her some relief but it also left her defenseless. None of her extremities worked anymore. And she didn't know for how long this time.

"It's new." Masami's words came over the numbness and remnants of the pain from a few seconds before. "A mixture of the poison from before and an anesthetic I got. Combined, we have perhaps, mmh, a good six hours." She reached over to grab the knife she had placed on the bed before scraping it against Kohaku's stomach. At this point, Kohaku didn't have the mind to think and instead her instincts took over. The only things that ruled her mind now were fear and dread. It was obvious anything that came would be bad, it was just a matter of how bad each would be compared to the last one.

Hitting her unexpectedly, Kohaku drew blood from biting down on her lip as Masami slowly brought the blade across her stomach. A redline surfacing, breaking through her skin. "And the twins won't come, you know that, because you will be quiet." She raked the blade across the top of her left breast, making Kohaku yelp. Masami, furious at this, made a deeper slash across her leg and although she didn't quite feel it, Kohaku felt a deep-seated sensation. It burned like hell's fires, and it made her want to cry out from the pain.

Masami put the blade flat against the cut on her leg and Kohaku only felt it burn more. "Funny how different chemicals react with each other. That poison paralyzes but when in contact with another—" she pointed out, lifting the blade from Kohaku's leg, "it has quite the reaction." Masami sat at Kohaku's side of the bed and stared down at her, "You've been getting mighty cocky these past few months. All because you got a few petty men under your thumb. I know you might think yourself special with all the attention you're getting but you're not. And you also might think yourself untouchable now that you're going to be by yourself out in the field." Masami made a slit right on her ribcage and pushed a bit harder making her weep at the pain. "You won't be, lamb. You've never been untouchable. So much power and yet, here we are. You won't hurt me. You don't dare."

"...I don't want to hurt you."

Hearing her voice, Masami flew into a rampage. Taking the hilt of the dagger in her hand, she struck Kohaku right across the face before closing the knife against her throat. "You never talk. Not a word unless I order it of you."

Her jaw throbbing furiously, Kohaku couldn't hold the tears that flowed out from the hard impact. And yet, despite being in so much pain because of it, she turned back to Masami with a deep breath. "I—yes."

"That horrid thing," Masami spat, pressing the blade harder against her flesh. "I never understood how you survived. I never forgave myself for not cutting deeper."

It wasn't hard to recall that night...when everything changed. The night Masami discovered the truth and attacked her—all by accident. The blade pressed closer, so close that she was afraid that if she swallowed it would seriously cut deep this time. "Please...I want to—"

But the sentence ended short when Masami struck the hilt of the dagger against Kohaku's ribs. This time the breath came right out of her from the impact. But it was just one hit, more came raining down with every word Masami enunciated. "Stop—talking—right—this—instant."

The strikes made Kohaku cough furiously while Masami stood up, brushing her fingers through her hair furiously. "You get to say nothing. Nothing but lies come from that filthy tongue of yours." Grabbing Kohaku's jaw in one hand, Masami pried it open before forcefully sticking the blade in. "So stop talking or I'll cut it out for you." Kohaku cried not knowing what else to do to stop her. "Stop crying, you fucking filth!" The scraping of the steel against her teeth made her anxiety rise to the roofs. Frantically, she tried getting her hands to move and stop her but they didn't answer. It wasn't until she actually cut her tongue and part of her lower lip that Masami withdrew the dagger.

By that point, Kohaku was at her limit. Getting scared like that was one of the worst things and it drained all of her strength. Masami paced around the room and although it was hard to, Kohaku followed her around with her eyes as she did so. Talking had been a really bad choice but something in her compelled her to. It wasn't that she was tired of being quiet. It was something else…

"I can't let myself be like this." Taking a breath to get her composure back, Masami turned with a sickly sweet smile to Kohaku. "I can't be too rough with you and risk leaving more blemishes, now. Can I, lamb? No, we can't raze that pretty little face. After all, you're my special toy. I can't let you break so easily." Leaving the knife behind, Masami picked up something else. She wasn't able to see it very well as Masami started tapping her stomach and legs with whatever she had in her hand. It felt blunt, not sharp. It wasn't until she started pummeling her body with it that it began to hurt. And it was all in silence. All she could hear were her own gasps on every hit.

Then the pauses started.

Hit, pause. Hit, pause, hit. Hit, hit, and pause again. Longer pause. Harder hit.

Suddenly, she started tapping between her legs.

Then the dread hit her. "No...please. Please."

"Oh, you spoke?" Masami crooned with a crooked smile, the object tapping back and forward between her inner thighs. "You can't do that. You're mute, remember? You need to learn to be—quiet!"

Kohaku gasped loudly at the horrible pain that came over her entire body. She wanted to curl inward but couldn't. Thatthing was inside her.

"Now...if you promise to be quiet. I will stop." She pulled it out and asked again. "Will you be quiet?" Kohaku was in between nodding when it came in again making her cry out, her voice hoarse and her tears coming out relentlessly. "That's not quiet. Let's try again, mmh?"

But she couldn't. She played this game, switching between hitting her and forcing it inside her. It hurt. She couldn't stop it. True to what she'd said, the poison started wearing off close to dawn. The sun was peeking over her windows when Kohaku could finally move her legs to curl up into herself. Seeing this, Masami backed away.

"What a night," she said with a yawn. "I should get some rest before breakfast. You should stay put, lamb. Take some time off." She chuckled as she retrieved everything she'd brought with her, "Don't worry. You'll have the whole day to yourself. I won't let anybody interrupt you, promise. Good day, little lamb."

Kohaku ignored it all. The buzzing in her head rang and didn't let her listen to her as she left. Her body hurt. The cuts, the hits, the… Her hands came up to her ears and covered them, wanting to vanish the sensation away. But instead she heard her heartbeat. Loud. Thumping.

Why won't you just stop beating…?

No. She furiously wiped at her face but the tears wouldn't stop flowing. How many times had she asked that question after such horrid things? And how many times did she never let her mind wonder to such solution? No, she wouldn't resort to such thing. Even through this—despite how horrible it was—she still had things to do.

Promises to keep. And she knew exactly what it was like to have nothing from someone other than broken promises. She wouldn't let that be her; she wouldn't leave and leave behind nothing but broken promises.

Lifting her gaze, Kohaku caught the brightness of the sun as it rose and shone through her window. It was past dawn. Curiously, apart from the pain, she felt a little remorse. Unable to move well yet, she knew she wouldn't be able to go train. She was already late as it was. But that brought on another pain—she didn't want to lose his respect.

I'm not as strong as you think I am, En. I'm not.

Unable to keep herself awake any longer, both from the pain and fatigue, she fainted. It wasn't until hours later that she woke up still sore. Perhaps she might've slept longer had the sound of pelleting water coming down against her window not woken her up. Raising herself from her bed, she watched the rain as it poured down, the outside darkened most likely by the clouds that had found their way to their skies.

Not wanting to stay all day, or night, in bed she forced herself up so she could go bathe. It took a while longer than usual to tend her wounds mostly because it was still a bit hard to move. Eventually she managed to dress her wounds while ignoring the large bruises that started to form around her stomach and legs. Not wanting to spend too much effort, she dressed in the simplest ruqun she had and headed out. Walking around, she noticed that the evening had come quite fast. That or she had really passed out for the whole day.

Not wanting to think about it, she found a spot near the gardens and decided to stop. Her tired and hurt legs could only take her so far. The spot nearest was dry enough for her to sit down, so she took it and stared out the hall to the rain as it fell. Because of the rain not many people were outside. The few she saw as she stared out were servants going about on their tasks. None addressed her even if they came to her proximity. It was good but some part of her wanted somebody to notice.

Somebody that actually cared enough to look past everything and notice that not everything was all right. But she knew that was too much to ask for.

No one cared. No one listened. Even if she could speak.

Closing her eyes, she let the sound of the pouring rain calm her mind. Rain wasn't always something she liked. It depended on her mood, usually. At times like these, though, it felt...comfortable to be out in the cold. It didn't really matter that the edges of her skirt were dirtying from the water that reached her, or that she wasn't very presentable in the clothes she'd chosen. She just wanted to feel comfortable for a few hours before she went back to her room to rest.

But the calm was disturbed when quick footsteps caught her ear. Turning to their direction, Kohaku was stunned to see Sousei practically rushing through the hallways almost slipping to turn a corner as he spotted her. He was shouting her name to get her attention. As he reached her out of breath and incoherent as he spoke, Kohaku stood to meet him. Not even a linguist could have understood him with how he spoke which prompted her to grab him by the shoulders and calm him down. Once he could take a solid breath, Kohaku signed at him.

"What's the matter, Sou?"

"Word," he panted. "From home—something happened."

That took away every ounce of pain she had as the adrenaline kicked in. She quickly told him to take her to whomever had those news. Sousei didn't waste a second and dragged her behind him to a small parlor near their rooms. Kohaku recognized it as the place where the twins would go to spend time with Masami. At this time of night, she presumed they were just finishing up dinner by the looks of the plates that were left behind in the foreroom.

It wasn't until she stepped deeper into the room though that she saw the devastation.

Suisei was on the floor in shatters, tears streaming down her face as she hoarsely cried onto Masami's shoulder. Masami herself was weeping, her arms wrapped around Suisei tightly while in her hands she held the letter that Kohaku assumed was the word from home. This perturbed Kohaku a lot and her mind couldn't stop racing at the familiarity of the scene.

Oh god, no.

"W-What…" Sousei didn't get to finish his thought. He strode up and took the letter from Masami to read. Kohaku, not wanting but needing to know at the same time, came over to read it over his shoulder. It was a short notice but it was enough to get the message through. Sousei struggled to stay on his feet as he staggered backwards. Catching him, Kohaku brought him closer to her as he began muttering incoherences over and over before he began to cry. Kohaku held him tight as he did the same, his tears soaking through to her shoulder as he wept. Despite it hurting, she didn't stop him from shouting at the top of his lungs that it couldn't be.

Not this.

And all she could do was hold him.

Not again.

A/N:

First of, allow me to explain what the beginning tag was about. I hadn't planned most of this chapter. After the expedition most of it came ad lib. But as I started writing the latter quarter of the chapter, I noticed that some people may be uncomfortable with it. If some of you were, then I apologize and I hope that the warning worked. If you didn't need it, then I hope my choice of writing didn't offend anybody.

Now with that out of the way, I hoped that you liked this chapter regardless of the previous remark. I swear to cheeses, these chapters keep getting longer and longer the more I write them.

There were a lot of new things on this chapter: Beleth's djinn equip and Kohaku's actual voice state being some of them. What about the ending though? What you guys think happened now?

I hope you guys are working towards that mystery that will be solved soon. Next chapter will have some clues before the big reveal so I hope you guys look forward to that. As for those who've been wondering if this story will ever meet canon, don't worry, it will. Be patient, my children.

Now, I know it's been a long time since the last chapter (or not -w-u) But I've been struggling with school, life, and health. It sucks when one person get sick in an apartment; even worse when that means everybody else will eventually get sick too. So yeah. Luckily, I've been slowly writing this chapter and it finally got done!

First let's say hi to those lovely people who Favorited and Followed:
- vnienhuis
- stellarroze
- Creme Tea
- Pookie Luffs Sushi
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- dawn08

Now I have to leave you all. I'm tired and sick and should be resting but wanted to put this out for you guys to read over what's left of the weekend. Hope you enjoy it and stay tuned for the next chapter.