The Dragon's Flower Read online

  Isao felt a frown curl his lips, and with some effort he wiped it away. Obviously, the other assassins were going after the Shogun, perhaps he should… no. Isao had arranged for the safety of Shogun Hiroshi, and it was out of his hands. Isao’s place was here--guarding the Empress and her heir, and his own child, who would one day rule Nagisa.

  “My lord Fox,” he began thoughtfully, “Is there any chance that your sister Chiharu Rie would come to our aid?”

  The Fox glanced down at him, his golden eyes gleaming knowingly. “I’m afraid not. We are not guardians of the Shogun but the protectors of our lands as a whole, not to mention the Crane’s skill lies not majorly in battle but largely in blessing and prosperity.

  ‘My sister is away doing her duty, and by the time my message would reach her, it would be too late.” He shrugged and glanced upwards thoughtfully. “And even if she was here, there is no guarantee she could save your father. We are only servants, in the end, and just as you do we must trust in the will of Heaven.” His golden eyes flickered over Isao’s shoulder. “Oh, and I would watch out behind you.”

  Isao spun around and ducked just in time to avoid the spinning danger of the shuriken, lashing out with shuriken of his own, and watched in satisfaction as his assailant fell. The next moment there was a flash of orange and gold and red, and with a sweep of his tekko-kagi the Fox dispatched another. Several suspicious thumps rang out in quick succession in the hallway, and Isao caught a glimpse of Ichiro darting forward, the flash of the shinobi’s kusarigama leaping ahead of him. Immediately afterward there was another thump, and Isao grinned fiercely.

  He quickly glanced over at his charges--the women were all on the paler side, with wide eyes and nervous glances, but they were standing firm. The children were all fast asleep, which was a great blessing, considering the commotion. Isao guessed that their honorable foxy companion may have had something to do with that.

  There was a flicker of movement out of hte corner of Isao’s eye, and he twisted and brought up his sai in time to deflect the blow of a shinobi’s tanto. The enemy stumbled back a step, clearing not anticipating his strike to meet with resistance.

  “You!” He spat. “How--you’re supposed to be some spoiled prince, but you fight like a shinobi! How--how is that even possible--!”

  Isao grinned. “Have I been gone for so long that everyone has forgotten Sakuto’s Shadow?”

  The enemy shinobi stared in shock. “You’re Sakuto’s Kage?”

  “I was.” Isao said. “Kage-no-Masaki, the Prince of Shinobi, Sakuto’s apprentice.” He stood tall, crossing the blades of his sai in front of him. “And I killed Sakuto-sensei with my own two hands.”

  The man stared at him in shock and awe. “However,” Isao continued, “i don’t think i’ll offer you the same consideration. After all, I need someone to tell me what exactly’s going on here.”

  “I’ll never tell you anything, murderou--”

  There was a brush of movement, like a red-orange fox had suddenly twined itself between the legs of the enemy. Startled, the shinobi stumbled.

  Seizing the opportunity, Isao darted forward in the second-window caused by the fox’s distraction and grasped the man firmly by the shoulder.

  The shinobi stiffened as he recognized the feeling of the prongs of the kakute ring pierce his flesh, and undoubtedly spreading poison through his veins. Still, milder poisons like that took longer to take affect, so as extra insurance Isao pinched hte nerves in the back of the shinobi’s neck. Bonelessly, the prisoner sank to the floor.

  There was a moment of silence, and then the shoji doors slid open to reveal a kneeling Ichiro. “All the intruders in this wing of the palace have been eradicated without any loss of life, my lord.”

  Isao wiped the blood off his sai and replaced them safely within his sleeves. “Excellent, Ichiro, thank the rest of your men for me.” Ichiro nodded and slid the door shut again, and the prince turned to the Celestial.

  “What about the ninja heading towards the Shogun?” He asked as calmly as he could manage.

  The Fox had a thoughtful expression on his face, and seemed distracted. At last, however, he spoke. “Their scents are still and dead as well--you have quite impressive men. Still, something strikes me as off…” He frowned slightly, and turned to face in a westerly direction, cocking his head as if to listen to something far off. Isao eyed the Celestial curiously for a moment, but then turned back to the women.

  “Well, would one of you ladies be so kind as to call some servants to clean up in here? It seems as if someone’s made a terrible mess.” He said cheerfully.

  Hanako flinched slightly, and Isao glanced at her face, and nearly stumbled back. Her wide blue eyes were filling with tears as she stared at the fallen figures littering the floor.

  Isao stepped forward in concern, his brow furrowing. “Are you alright, Hanako-chan?”

  “I--yes.” The princess said, swiftly drawing her sleeve across her eyes. “It’s just… it’s such a waste of life.” She bit her lip, and then firmed her shoulders, and lifted her eyes to meet that of her brother-in-law.

  “This war--it must be over. We have to end it! I refuse to let any more of my people die uselessly in a greedy struggle for power!” She spoke, and her blue eyes blazed in determination and resolve.

  Isao smiled, and bowed deeply--a subordinate’s bow of respect and obedience. “Your wish is my command, my empress.”

  Hanako bit her lip and felt color rushing to her cheeks as she realized what she had just done. She clutched Kenshin a little closer to her in consternation and let her eyes drop to the floor. “Nevertheless, Isao-dono, I--I thank you for protecting us; Misaki, Kenshin and I.”

  “Yes,” Aika said, and she stepped forward, one hand reaching out to grasp her husband’s, drawing his gaze to meet her own. “You did it, Isao-sama. You did it. You protected all of us.”

  Isao stared down into her dark, beautiful eyes, and he felt a swelling rush of relief sweep through him. “I did.” He whispered, the words slipping wonderingly from his lips.

  “I told you you would, my husband.” Aika said gently, and her eyes sparkled with tears.

  “I wasn’t too late, not this time.” he said, and bowed his head in gratefulness.

  There were running footsteps down the hallway. Confused, Isao lifted his head and turned just in time to see Eikichi burst in, his face pale and strained.

  “Come quickly, Aika-hime-sama, Isao-sama! His Highness the Shogun has been poisoned!”

  Aika’s grip on Isao’s hand became a crushing vise, and Isao felt the warmth in his chest turn to ice.

  “Take us to him.” He commanded, his voice cold and hard. It could not end this way--he had promised Yasuhito!--everything would be fine. Isao just had to believe that.

  Without a word, Eikichi turned and ran, Isao and Aika hot on their heels. Quickly, Hanako pressed Kenshin into the little princess Yuhime’s arms and hurried after them. Perhaps--perhaps if she was swift enough and arrived in time, the blessing that lay in her blood would be enough to save the Shogun.

  ******

  “Tell me, how did this happen?” Isao barked. He had made his choice, he knew he had to stay with Hanako and her children--she was the Empress, after all, and his brother’s wife. If Shichiro was not there to protect her, Isao would gladly take up the mantle in his brother’s place.

  And besides! He had taken steps to ensure his lordly father’s safety--Ichirou had picked his best men and ordered them to look after the Shogun. And there had only been four enemy shinobi heading towards the Shogun--surely his men should have managed to protect him!

  What went wrong?

  “It was a poisoned dart--One of the enemy must have managed to shoot it off in the confusion, and no one noticed that Hiroshi-sama had been hit until he collapsed.” Eikichi admitted, and Isao felt his gut clench.

  The next moment, a shudder ran through Isao’s blood, and a chill settled in his bones. He stopped, not knowing why, and noticed all th
e others had stopped as well.

  “What was that?” Hanako asked quietly, and Isao saw her eyes were filled with tears.

  “A ruler is bound to his land, and a the land to its ruler.” Akashi Keiji said solemnly. “And the land will mourn and cry out in grief when its Shogun dies.”

  Isao felt his heart stop, and he stuttered, “I-I didn’t hear anything, I--”

  The Fox smirked softly, but his golden eyes were full of empathy. “YOu are but a mortal, and the songs of the earth cannot be heard by mortal ears. Still, you recognize it in your blood. Make no mistake--Shogun Hamasaki Hiroshi is dead.” Then the Celestial bowed deeply to Isao, his long auburn hair brushing the floor. “May the reign of Shogun Isao be long and blessed.”

  *****

  They held the funeral for Shogun Hiroshi two days later. When it was over and the last tendrils of smoke from the crematory fire and the incense braziers was dying away, the new Shogun of the Hamasaki line remained, looking out over the dead fire with dull eyes. He was clad in ornate robes, as befitting his station, with his wife beside him.

  The silence grew eerie as the day drew towards dusk and the mists began to gather, and at last the Princess Aika broke the tentative silence.

  “I know,” She said, softly, halting, “That you blame yourself. I know you are thinking that you were too late, that you failed again.”

  Isao didn’t speak.

  His wife looked at him helplessly for a long second before gathering up her courage. “Maybe you could have done things differently, Isao-san, but… you don’t know that. No one save the Heavenly Emperor-sama knows what might have been. Maybe if you had done something differently, my…” Her voice broke slightly, but she firmed herself and continued, “My father might have survived, but at what cost?”

  His eyes slanted towards her in confusion.

  “Neither you nor I know what might have been, husband,” she said, “But I do know what is. You saved the Empress and her children. You saved Daisuke and Yuriko. You saved me.” Fingers reached out and grasped his sleeve, clutching as she squeezed her eyes shut. “You have failed in the past, yes, but… but everyone has. And for all your failures, you still succeeded, even if just a little! You saved Shichiro when your honorable mother died, and you saved Father and I when--when Yasuhito-nii-san died, and you saved Ichirou, and three days ago you saved our family!

  “Everyone fails, husband. Not even the Celestial Guardians are perfect. It’s just a part of living. But I tell you, husband,” She said softly, and drew close and pressed her forehead against his arm, “That after each failure, you have grown stronger, and you have saved more. So please, don’t let this failure destroy you. Please, grow stronger again, and when the next time comes, do better. It’s all anyone can do.”

  A hand settled on top of her head, and Aika looked up, blinking away wetness from her eyes, to see Isao looking down at her, a smile upon his lips. It was small and faint, but it was there all the same.

  “Thank you, Aika.” He said. “You have always been here, to remind me that all is not lost.”

  “Well,” his wife said, and smiled back at him, “Someone needs to do it, and I’m glad to do so.”

  He lifted his gaze, and together they stared out over the embers of the fire, and at the hunched form of a pale crane that stood above it, her head bowed in mourning.

  *****

  “We need to talk,” Akashi Keiji said.

  Everyone in the room froze, gazes darting to the impressive stature of the Fox. When a Celestial Guardian says words like that, people tend to respond.

  “About what, Fox-dono?” The Shogun of Nagisa said, tilting his head to one side.

  “About what you plan to do now, little Shogun,” The Fox said.

  Isao raised an eyebrow. “Has something come up?”

  “Yes, this.” The Fox raised his arm, and out of the sleeve of his kimono slithered a white snake, wrapping around his wrist.

  Everyone stared.

  Akashi Keiji’s golden eyes gleamed in amusement, and his lips lifted in a sharp-toothed grin. “Everyone, I would like you to meet my honorable cousin, Bijin no Momoko.”

  The snake blinked her pale gold eyes and bowed her head. “It is a pleasure to meet the Empress at last. There hasn’t been a ruler on the Imperial Throne since before I was born.”

  Hanako blushed slightly and bowed her own head in acknowledgement, hugging Misaki a little closer in nerves. She may have (mostly) accepted her destiny at this point, but she was still unused to people reminding her of it. She wasn’t actually Empress yet, after all, even if she had been divinely appointed and had the Dragon’s Mark upon her back.

  “Your cousin is a snake?” Isao said, his other eyebrow raised.

  “I have a crane, a koi fish, and a deer for sisters, surely after that a snake for a cousin isn’t that surprising.” The Fox said. “And besides, she takes after her mother.”

  Hanako remembered old, old legends that she had read, back when she was young and bored and had very little to do in her dragon-bedecked palace of a prison. Legends that told how in the ancient days before the Seven Nations, the land of Azuma no Kuni was filled with warring clans and no peace. Then the Heavenly Emperor sent down the first of the guardians, Momoe Chiyo, the Great Goose, who brought peace and order to the land that would one day be known as Karigane.

  After Momoe Chiyo the Eldest there came the three siblings--Madoka Nori the Black Serpent the eldest, and his brother Tamotsu Eiji the Jade Dragon--who had fought over the hand of Momoe Chiyo, resulting in Madoka Nori being cast down upon the earth.

  And last of all came Amayo Mito, the White Snake, who before the birth of Momoe Chiyo’s children had guided and guarded the eastern clans.

  In legends it was said that Amayo Mito had loved and wed a mortal man, to whom she fed a peach from the immortal trees in the gardens of Heaven, and together they dwell upon a mountain wreathed mists in the far east. Their firstborn was the famed Shieru-sama, but they were rumored to have many children, children that could take on their mother’s form.

  The tales of Tamotsu Eiji the Great Dragon, and of his wife the the Immortal Goose, Momoe Chiyo, and their seven children were all true… perhaps the tales of Junji and his immortal wife were more than that, as well.

  Akashi Keiji bent and let his hand fall towards the ground, and the white snake--Bijin--slithered free and onto the tatami matts. And then, within the space of a breath, a girl stood there--not very old, but with long white hair and pale gold eyes. She was dressed in a white kimono decorated with peaches, and she bowed deeply to the people in the room. “I bear a message from Tamotsu Eiji-sama. He says that the time is right, and all the countries are prepared. Now the time has come to gather together and strike out against the would-be-usurpers.” She blinked her wide, pale gold eyes, and then locked gazes with Hanako. “And If you wish to be successful in such an endeavor, you must go and find the lost prince of Masaki and bring him home.”

  Hanako’s heart leapt. Shichiro! We--we need to find him, and then… She glanced down at Misaki, who blinked up at her mother with her newly-darkened eyes. And he’ll be able to hold our children at last.

  She glanced at her honored brother-in-law, whose face had gone completely slack. “I…” he said, “Are you telling me that I’ve been divinely instructed to go save my little brother?”

  The little girl, Bijin no Momoko, smiled prettily and bowed her head. “Indeed so, Shogun-sama.”

  A wild, severely undignified grin slipped across his face and he stood up. “Well, then, what are we waiting for, I--” He paused, and then the grin slipped away as his face smoothed itself into a blank mask. “I can’t.”

  “It’s generally considered unwise to refuse a divine direction, child,” Akashi Keiji drawled.

  Isao sat down with all the dignity his position afforded him and shook his head once. “I can’t.”

  Akashi Keiji stepped forward and was suddenly a fox, and he trotted forward to face Isao, a displeasur
e radiating from his narrowed eyes and the irritated flicking of his tail. “Why won’t you go? Do you not care about your brother?”

  Hanako jumped when Isao’s hand slammed down onto his writing desk. The ink table shook and spilled, a black stain slipping out and spreading across the surface.

  “I am Shogun!” Isao snarled. “I cannot leave my country, not after my honored father died not three days ago!”

  The little snake girl with the long white hair padded forward uncertainly. “Uh, pardon me, my lord, but you have to leave Nagisa. You were appointed the leader of the alliance, were you not? Now all the allied Shoguns shall gather, and you need to be in Karigane to lead them. All the other Shoguns shall leave their countries--is it so hard for you to do the same?”

  “I--” Isao said, rubbing a hand down his face. “That was the plan, yes, but that was when Shogun Hiroshi was alive. Nagisa has just lost one leader, it could be disastrous if her new shogun upped and abandoned her so soon. I wish I could go--you can’t know how much I wish to, but I--”

  “Need to go.” Aika said firmly. Isao spun towards her in confusion, and she locked gazes with him firmly. “I will stay, husband, and rule in your place. After all, I am the Princess of Nagisa.”

  “Aika, but--you just lost your father, I can’t leave you now…” Isao said helplessly, strain and sorrow pulling at his voice.

  The Princess shook her head once. “I will be fine. I am the wife of Shogun Hamasaki Isao, and I will do what I must. And so must you.” She let her hand drop to Daisuke’s head, which was pillowed in her lap as he napped. Her fingers gently stroked along his brow and his soft hair thoughtfully. “The nations are in turmoil, and you have been called by Heaven to lead. Your brother is in grave need, and you have been called to help. The Empress and her heir are in danger, and if I remember what you told me correctly, our own son is at risk. Princess Katsumi has already breached our defenses once, who’s to say she won’t manage to again?

  “I will stay here, and Enzou-san will be here to help me, and I will protect our daughter and Misaki-chan and Nagisa. You, my husband, will go and do as you have been called, and you will take Hanako-sama and Kenshin-chama and Daisuke-chan with you, where they will be safe. And you will go and lead our allies to victory and put the Empress upon her rightful throne, and you will save my honored brother in law.”