Taro sat down.
Kishi did, too.
And then she went perfectly still, staring at him.
Taro bit his lip as he swallowed, hard, trying not to glance around himself too obviously.
In the meantime, Kishi still didn't move.
Taro closed his eyes, leaning against the trunk.
A piece of bark snapped. His eyes flew open–to meet Kishi's very bright ones.
Taro straightened.
"You're not wearing a mask," she said. Announced, rather.
He didn't answer, but she went on anyway.
"What are you?"
"What…what am I?" Taro's jaw twitched.
Kishi blinked.
"I'm waiting."
His face constricted.
"I'm…I'm…a boy?"
"Rakhai," she hissed, and he jumped. "No. Are you a zakun? Kish'tar? You're not a tor'kesh, or you wouldn't be so scared I can feel it from here."
He caught a breath.
"I'm a zakun."
Her eyebrows shot up.
"Liar. You don't move like one."
Taro's mouth dropped open.
"Then why did you ask me?"
"Because you don't move like a kish'tar, either."
The boy frowned.
"What do you mean I don't–"
"That sword. Is it yours?"
Taro glanced down at the sheath still fastened to his belt.
"Yeah."
"Hmph," Kishi grunted as she stood up.
Taro watched her with something very much like terror as she bent down over a bush and dragged a bundle out from underneath it.
Then she spun around and tossed him an apple. More like, launched it at him.
"Food," she said unnecessarily.
Taro held it carefully, almost as if he thought it might attack him.
"...Food?" he asked weakly.
Her eyes met his.
Taro immediately took a large bite of the apple.
"Are people going to come looking for you?" Kishi asked.
He stopped chewing. "Probably."
She was staring at him again now.
"How many?"
Suddenly the apple lost all its taste.
"You aren't going to…" Taro's voice trailed off.
The girl blinked once.
"Oh, you think I'm going to let all of Norema come and pitch camp in my forest?" she drawled. "Very funny."
Taro's fingers clenched around the apple.
"Then you should…"
No, there was nothing she could do, was there.
Unless she killed him and left him on the trail for a search party to find.
Kishi's voice broke into his paralysis.
"What are you going to do?"
Startled, his eyes jerked back to her masked face.
What could he do?
"I…"
He really couldn't finish any sentences, could he.
She was still watching him.
Now he was pretty sure she was smiling. Her eyes were, anyway.
"If you killed me, then your secret would be safe."
Taro's jaw dropped again.
If he…killed her?
That word was a hard one.
What did it mean?
Taro closed his eyes.
Nene. Sakue.
His mother. His father.
If he killed the rakhai, he could go back to them.
That was what it meant.
Except he didn't have a chance, did he.
Taro stared at the red apple in his hand.
Red like–
No. He wouldn't think that.
"I'm right, aren't I," Kishi whispered.
His gaze flickered back to her.
"You know I'm not good enough to fight you and win," Taro said slowly.
She reached up to her hair, loosening the bun and letting it fall. Her eyes darted to the forest floor and to the sunlight speckling the fallen leaves and the dirt that was the firesite.
"Unless I let you."
Her voice was very soft now.
He studied what he could see of her face. She didn't look at him.
"No," Taro said suddenly.
Her eyes shot up.
"No?"
"You're…"
Taro shook his head.
"You're Karunic. You are…"
He didn't like the expression–
"...my…"
–but it was coming, anyway.
"...kingdom."
Kishi went very, very still.
Taro didn't dare breathe.
Then she spoke.
"I'm your…what?"
~~~
Heizo watched the gates swing closed.
No one said war. No one said to the death.
But the words burned in his heart.
And yet no man spoke Karun's battlecry.
Heizo's chest felt like lead as he slumped down against the side of the closest house to the village walls.
He could not get out. No one could.
No one could get in, either.
Taro…
Taro was out there, alone.
Or dead.
Somehow the uncertainty was worse than knowledge would have been.
Heizo closed his eyes.
The boy was alone.
But Heizo was not his father.
Could he help him, anyway?
Or was this the end of the boy's childhood?
Groaning, Heizo shook his head.
How had Yazawa found out?
Or…had he?
Heizo's scowl deepened.
Yazawa had let Heizo go. That meant Heizo–and his family–weren't suspect.
But how…
Maybe Yazawa didn't really know, after all.
But then, why the accusation–and why the certainty?
Faintly, Heizo could hear galloping hooves. A single horse's.
He lifted his head wearily, glancing over towards the gate. A horseman appeared in the distance, silhouetted against the darkening east sky.
Heizo's heart leapt before he could reason with himself.
No. It wasn't Taro. Taro had no mount.
Still, Heizo watched as the rider approached the gate.
"No entry!" a guard shouted, stepping out of the gatehouse.
The blacksmith's eyes studied the newcomer.
Tall. Heavy-set.
Built like a Karunic warrior.
"I'm here on important business," the man said, barely loudly enough that Heizo could hear.
Slowly, the blacksmith got to his feet.
"No entry," the guard snapped again. "Order of Valoren Yazawa."
The warrior stared at the soldier.
"Order of Valoren Yazawa."
"Yes," the soldier repeated, more loudly this time.
The rider paused for a moment.
"I've been riding all day–"
"Get lost," the guard fairly howled.
Heizo stepped onto the road.
Maybe the rider's head turned towards him slightly. Maybe not. Heizo couldn't tell.
Then the rider shouted something to his horse. Wheeling around, the horse trotted away.
Heizo fell back into the shadows as the soldier vanished into the guardhouse.
So…something was moving.
What it was, Heizo didn't know.
But he felt it.
~~~
Genjo Masahiro didn't know what had happened.
He knew only two things: Valoren Yazawa was now in Norema, and Norema was inaccessible.
Both facts together were distinctly distasteful to the kish'tar.
Perhaps the man in the road had wanted to say something to Genjo. In any case, the two would not be able to speak together any time soon, from the looks of it.
Genjo glanced thoughtfully at the forest in the distance.
So there it was. Hiyashi.
It could provide shelter for the night.
It could also kill him.
Sighing, Genjo relaxed in the saddle. Enatsu, the gelding, was quite worn out by now, though not quite as much as Mai had been.
Genjo had heard of a stream that ran through Hiyashi, near the Karunic border. He would have to hope it was actually there.
Enatsu would be thirsty.
~~~
"Is your hand hurting?" Aneka Hoshara asked for what was probably the twentieth time.
Rashei Shiro sighed for what was probably also the twentieth time.
"Which one?"
But this time, Aneka shoved her sword into its sheath.
Her new sword. Thicker and heavier than her last one had been.
Shiro wondered if Tadashi had selected it.
"It's getting dark," Aneka pointed out. "I think we can stop."
Wearily, Shiro slid his own blade away. "That…sounds wonderful, my Lady."
Then his head jerked in the direction of the courtyard gate, an instant before Aneka's did. A form appeared there–tired, worn.
"Arai!" Shiro gasped.
The younger man lifted his head.
"Shiro."
"Arai Junzo?" Aneka's eyes lit up as she ran over to the man.
Shiro watched as the lad stepped away almost cautiously.
"My Lady," Arai breathed, bending one knee.
His lips barely brushed the princess's hand as he kissed it. Then he rose, and she backed away.
In the meantime, Shiro had made his approach. He clapped the younger man on the back.
"So soon," he commented dryly. "I expect you're going–"
"Straight to the King," Arai panted.
Shiro nodded.
"We'll see you at supper."
Smiling vaguely, Arai pulled his mask back up over his face and walked quickly towards the door.
The princess and the rashei followed, more slowly. Shiro tightened and loosened his fingers thoughtfully, mildly relieved that he still could.
"Will you eat supper with me?" Aneka asked him–again, it seemed. He glanced at her in surprise.
"Oh. My Lady, I don't belong–"
"I'll eat in the kitchen," she interrupted.
His bushy eyebrows shot up.
Princess Aneka…
She was nothing like her older sister. Or even like her brother, for that matter.
Shiro said nothing as he held the door open for her. Then he closed out the evening behind them.
A few minutes later, he found himself in the kitchen, serving himself a bowl of soup.
Aneka was beside him. He handed the full bowl to her.
"Oh, thanks," she flushed.
Shiro merely grunted as he grabbed another and filled it.
Soon the two sat opposite each other, their bowls resting on the counter between them. Aneka fairly wolfed down her food, but Shiro was relatively more well-mannered towards his stomach.
Then Aneka went back for seconds–and came back.
"It's good," she declared, her cheeks warm.
Shiro nodded.
"'Tis so."
He wanted to ask her several questions. Well, one really.
Why was she insisting on hanging out with a lowly soldier like himself, who was nearly three times her age?
Well, one didn't ask the princess questions.
So Shiro definitely wasn't going to.
He nearly choked as she answered his anyway–with one of her own.
"So, do you have any more stories from Norema?"
Shiro's eyes widened.
"Um…"
The girl's eyes sparkled.
Finally Shiro sighed. Heavily.
"I suppose so."