"The enemy has located the heir." Eguchi Yoriie's voice was quiet as always. He stood very still, facing the other resistance leaders who sat around the table. "Except…not the heir. They have selected a decoy."
There was a silent moment.
"A decoy." Rii, Kish'tar Chikanari's wife, was the first to speak. "That's…surprisingly unsurprising."
Her face was hard, even masked by the apparent softness of the fabric that covered her mouth.
Josuke Chikanari frowned.
"So." He began to tap the table, as he usually did. "The net begins to close."
"Do we know what their plans are?" Genjo Masahiro asked.
Josuke glanced sharply at the man. He had better not be still stuck on the concept of legitimacy and heritage.
"Arai Junzo provided the information," Eguchi answered. "He signalled that the coverup is to be handled by…"
A deliberate pause.
"...none other than the Valoren."
"The Valoren, eh." Josuke took a deep breath. "That means…"
"Valoren Tadashi," Mino Harai finished for him.
Eguchi nodded.
"I don't think I have to explain to you all exactly what that means."
Finally, he sat down.
"Either we stand by and witness his public execution of the selected 'prince,' or we snatch the 'prince' from between his fingers," Josuke surmised. "Only one of those choices means immediate war."
"And the other means surrender," Genjo put in.
Rii bit her lip.
"It can't. There is no surrender. We've been planning this for seven years–"
"Seven years is already too long." Genjo gripped the table. "Seven years without an heir might as well be a century."
Josuke resisted the urge to grit his teeth.
The man was annoying.
But he was right. And despicably poetic about it, too.
"What do you think we should do, then?" Mino questioned.
"Huh," Rii muttered to herself. "We might as well kill the decoy ourselves before they can come up with their hypothesis."
Genjo half-laughed, but Eguchi spoke before he did.
"It's too late. Arai is being sent to the Hosharan court tomorrow to alert the tyrant and…and Tadashi."
"Hm." Josuke counted on his fingers. "That's one day's trip…and then another day's trip for Tadashi to reach Norema, assuming he leaves court immediately. That gives us…"
He scowled. "Two days."
"It'd take two days for us to get there," Mino pointed out.
Unhappy silence.
"We can contact someone at the capital, but they aren't always waiting for signalling like we are," Rii observed. "Still…it might be worth the attempt."
"The attempt to what?" Genjo asked quietly.
She stared at him.
"The attempt to foil Tadashi, obviously."
"But how?"
Their eyes locked. Josuke held his breath without knowing why.
"What do you think is best?" Rii smiled tensely.
Josuke had to shake his head in admiration. That wife of his…
"We need to find the actual heir," Genjo said.
Mino slapped his forehead.
"We don't even know if there is one!" he nearly shouted.
Josuke held up a hand, and everyone went quiet.
"Genjo is right," he admitted. "The only way to effectively counteract this is to find the real heir–now."
Then he threw his head back and laughed.
"Which is actually kind of impossible."
"What's left, then?" Mino muttered.
"War," Eguchi stated calmly.
Everyone's eyes turned to him as he cleared his throat.
"All that is left is for us to go to war to avenge our nonexistent prince."
"So you will let Tadashi kill him," Genjo surmised.
Josuke's eyes narrowed.
"There's nothing else we can do," he returned. "We have less than two weeks now before we go to war anyway."
"But Tadashi will fully be expecting retribution." Genjo's forehead darkened as he leaned closer to the table.
Josuke's fist landed hard on the wood.
No one jumped.
"There is no perfect route anymore," Josuke hissed. "War is all we have now."
To his surprise, Genjo nodded.
"Well-said," he murmured, standing up.
"Where are you going?" Mino questioned.
"To prepare for war," came the answer, just before the door closed behind the rebel leader.
Rii sighed.
"He's going to leave," she announced needlessly. "He's going to find the heir. Or get himself killed in the bargain."
Mino's chair scraped the floor as he leapt to his feet.
"Then we have to stop him!"
"No." Josuke's voice broke into the heavy stillness of the room. "He will not betray us. He will only betray himself."
Rii closed her eyes. Josuke wanted to do the same, but he did not.
He was the head of the resistance. There was no time for fallout.
"There are only four of us, now," he concluded, his voice thick despite his struggling to maintain control. "Four."
Eguchi nodded slowly.
"There is strength in few."
So that was the comfort the quiet leader had to offer. Josuke half-smiled.
"We will have a meeting tomorrow with all the unit leaders here at Sarai," he decided. "And draw up the final plan."
~~~
Princess Aneka wasn't sure how busy Valoren Tadashi was.
But he had promised to train her, anyway.
So now she pushed open the door to what he called his office.
The valoren glanced up from a cup of tea that was probably hours old.
"Ah, Lady Aneka," he smiled, rising to his booted feet. "Can I help you?"
She blinked. Her hair was windswept, her own boots covered in mud.
"I beat all three rashei," she announced. "You said you'd train me after that."
"Oh, right." Tadashi nodded. He glanced back at the map on his desk. "Would you mind waiting a few minutes?"
"No," Aneka conceded, stepping over to the rug in front of the fireplace and sitting down abruptly.
The valoren's eyebrows raised slightly as he returned to his chair.
"Why do you have the fire going?" Aneka asked aimlessly, a few seconds later.
His finger paused over the map.
"You're not cold?"
"No." Aneka laughed.
Minutes passed. Suddenly Tadashi stood up. Aneka glanced at him.
"Let's go," he decided.
She followed him into the hallway and down the stairs. Aneka's steps were light as they went.
Until he stopped and turned thoughtfully to her.
"You're a Princess," he observed.
She nodded, almost hesitantly.
"So. I can't actually hurt you. In that case…"
Aneka flushed, but before she could say anything, Tadashi finished his statement.
"...if I cut your hair, I win."
Aneka blinked.
No way could the valoren cut her hair with a sword. The mere thought was ridiculous.
"...Okay," she giggled.
Or tried to giggle. It caught somewhere in her throat and stayed there.
Pulling his mask up onto his face, Tadashi held the courtyard door open for her. Aneka strode past him, heading straight to where she'd fought Shiro only a few hours before.
Rather, where he had forced her to defend herself–and win.
Aneka had a sinking feeling that Tadashi might actually be planning on victory.
Well, that was what she wanted, anyway. There was no fun in training with people who were afraid not to lose.
And that was why she had challenged the greatest of them all–Valoren Tadashi.
Because he never allowed himself to be beaten.
She kicked the dirt with the toe of her right boot as she waited for him. But he just came to the training ground and stood there, his face totally expressionless behind the mask. He didn't even draw his sword–either of the two blades he wore.
"Are you–" Aneka began nervously.
He shrugged.
"I'm waiting for you, Princess."
She blinked.
"I like my ground." Another laugh from her suddenly dry lips. "If the enemy won't advance, then…they lose anyway."
"Exactly."
Now she was sure he was smiling.
She definitely wasn't.
Aneka drew her rapier-like blade slowly. The steel caught the sunlight. Somehow it helped renew Aneka's confidence.
She glanced back at Tadashi. He hadn't moved.
"Valoren…"
"Are you going to train?" he questioned almost impatiently.
Her jaw tight, Aneka dove towards him, the blade moving in perfect unison with her hand as she swung and darted. The steel flicked towards his cloak.
Then his cloak was gone.
Aneka froze, her eyes narrowing. Tadashi had sidestepped–and otherwise done nothing.
"Why aren't you fighting?" she bit out.
"Because you aren't, Princess. You have to strike to kill. That is what training is for."
Their eyes locked, and Aneka realized he wasn't joking.
She dug her boots into the dirt as she lunged forward again, this time sidestepping in sync with Tadashi. Taking a deep breath, Aneka stabbed for the neck.
His sword was out, heavy, long. It smashed into Aneka's blade, sending vibrations hurtling down to her wrist.
Gritting her teeth, Aneka thrust again. And again. The first time, he swayed just slightly out of the way. The second time, his blade kissed hers again.
And her sword broke.
But his hadn't stopped moving.
Aneka's heart stopped beating as something hummed past her right ear. Light glinted into her eyes as she jerked away, the hilt and half-blade still held tightly.
Something moved in the corner of her vision. She glanced at the space she had just left.
A wisp of dark, curly hair floated slowly to the ground.
Aneka's mouth dropped open as she stared.
Then Tadashi sheathed his sword.
"You–"
Aneka didn't know what she wanted to say.
He stepped closer to her, his dark eyes annoyed. "Can I see that?"
She handed him the broken blade.
The sword that had been given to her three months ago. For her birthday.
Tadashi turned it over, then slashed what was left of it through the air. Aneka jumped out of the way, though she was relatively certain he wasn't aiming for her.
"Rubbish." Tadashi's eyes were cold. "This is garbage."
Suddenly he dropped it and clapped the princess on her shoulder. The shoulder her hair no longer rested on.
"Very, very well done, Princess Aneka. I am proud."
He pulled off his mask. Aneka realized his smile was warm.
"But we need to find you a better sword before we train again."
Her gaze trailed after him as he walked briskly back towards the castle door. But her hand crept up to her hair.
Just up to her right ear.
Gone.
Aneka didn't know if she was more terrified–or more excited.