.
"You can take as much food as you can carry without sacrificing too much speed, and I'll give you something of my personal wealth. There is an old, abandoned shrine up in the mountain. You can probably shelter a dozen people there." Megumi stared at her as she spoke this, weighing her, as always, but she seemed increasingly satisfied with what she saw. "There are one or two old servants who know the way," she continued, "and some young men from the stable who know how to fight and have little loyalty here. I will release them to accompany you."
Kaoru put a hand on the shaman's arm and met her eyes. "Save yourself as well. Come with us."
Megumi laughed. "Abandon the daimyo? Abandon my honor? Abandon the last fight? Never."
So the supplies were gathered, quickly, and the servants who had responded to Kaoru's words gathered around the wagons carrying small bundles of personal belongings. They were mostly women with infants and children, two strong boys, and one old woman who sat on the wagon with her granddaughter. She would direct them.
Megumi pressed a cloth bag heavy with currency into Kaoru's hands. "Guard this," she murmured. A couple of rough-looking, well muscled young men approached them. The more handsome one was frowning softly, the tall one outright glowering at the ground. Megumi yanked the surly one down to her and growled something low and fierce into his ear. The young man sneered and clenched his fists but nodded sharply and took his place near the rear cart while Megumi watched him. Kaoru noticed that he carried a large bundle that gleamed metal through its bindings - it looked almost like a farming tool beaten into a weapon.
There was one errand Kaoru still had to complete. She prayed she could find him quickly.
.
The samurai were just finishing their final ritual. Kenshin knelt with the others, casting his soul into his sword and accepting his death. He stood with the others in the smoke and silence of the hall. The daimyo blessed them, and then they were out, in the fleeting sunlight, mounting their horses or finding their lines.
"Kenshin!"
Some of the men around him turned to him and glared. Some stared at her in astonishment and made gestures to protect themselves against witchcraft.
She was close to him, touching him, and Kenshin felt her presence as an echo of the life he had just abandoned. He ached with it and forgot, for a moment, that he was dead.
"Kenshin," she murmured to him, "there's an abandoned shrine in the mountains. Some of the old servants know of it. After the battle..." She pulled back and stared at him, willing him – the blood beating in his heart, the light in his eyes, him, what he was to her – willing him to live, willing him to survive. "After the battle, that's where I'll be."
Then she was gone, and Kenshin wanted to run after her. He wanted to go back into the hall and redo the ritual to banish his heart, banish his soul.
He was still a young warrior, and he felt giddy with the knowledge that she had a plan, the hope that she would survive this, but his heart sank with misgivings for himself - this wasn't how a battle should begin.
.