Storiesonline.net ------- Forging The Weld by ElSol Copyright© 2007 by ElSol ------- Description: (The Second Prequel to the Goddess Duology) In the land of Shin, those called to serve at Gallis go to war. Codes: no-sex fant ------- "I am Steel." "I am Steel." "I am Steel." The whispers embraced him as he watched Gallis burn. The Emperor's soldiers pretended to be unhappy at what they found in the town, setting the fires in an orgy of relieved rage. "Hanzo ne Gallis is dead," Alessandra told him. "They'll find enough courage to desecrate the bodies soon," he said. The whispers grew louder. If he did not head off the swelling anger, action would be taken without thought. He was the only Steel ready to die in Gallis--one more sunrise and he would have been free! "Are the ships away?" He turned and faced the children. "Yes," Alessandra replied. "Any incidents?" "Some of the families wanted us to go with them," another girl told him. "They were not called to serve," he said when shame touched the faces of some Steel. "They are parents, sisters, and brothers. They do not understand." "We'll make them proud!" someone shouted. Had the speaker been older, it would have been necessary to correct him. "The youngest won't be able to keep up," he said to Alessandra. She nodded. "There is more." The Steel stared at him, waiting. "The Emperor must not learn the truth about his destruction of Gallis." Feral smiles touched every face. "He must not trust Shin soldiers," Alessandra said. "I only saw Chuutai and Hokubu banners." He shrugged, "It's time." They followed him into the trees. Dancing The Leaves. As Steel ready for the Goddess's hand, he moved easily from leaf to leaf. The others could only keep up because he held a steady pace to the gathering. The youngest Steel looked up in awe as he floated down from the tree tops. "Young ones forward," he said. In seconds, the Steel arranged themselves as he instructed. He studied the front line and those behind. The number of Steel heralded the storm. The largest pack of wolves in the history of Gallis waited for their first hunt. "You won't be able to keep up when the Emperor's toy soldiers finally understand what it means for Gallis to take the field." The young ones nodded as a unit. "We want them to run, but their flight must be driven by terror." They nodded again. "The commanders will be celebrating their great victory," he said. "You will cut a path to them for me." "What if we survive?" the youngest girl asked. He studied her, an elf-human child whose clothing was accented with Minami colors. Raised by elves, she would have learned to dance the leaves as soon as she could walk. "Make sure they run like dragons are chasing them," he replied. "And us?" Alessandra asked from the line of older children. Another year and she would have been ready to be placed in the Goddess's hand also; it was unfair to call Alessandra a child. "The archers," he said. "Hanzo!" "Hanzo!" "Hanzo!" Some of them witnessed the archers take down Hanzo ne Gallis, and all the Steel would have heard the story by now. The older Steel had met Hanzo and knew Alessandra was his student. They would make sure the archers did not make it out of Gallis alive. "Any questions?" "Yes!" Everyone stared at half-elf girl. "What's your real name?" He growled, soul-deep. Called to serve made no difference, they knelt at the sound. No fear in their eyes, but they knelt. "I am Steel," he said. "And since the Emperor seems to have forgotten, I will remind him what that means!" The feral smiles returned as the children stood. ------- "Gallis!" The soldiers froze at the battle cry. The hesitation made things easier, not that the young Steel needed it. He walked behind the point of the wedge as they cut through the outer ranks. The soldiers suffered another deadly delay when they realized it was children attacking. He moved around a child. An upward stroke left to right took a soldier in the face; the child drove her sword into the soldier's stomach. "Gallis!" To the right and across the camp, Alessandra and the older Steel were killing archers. "Faster!" he shouted. "Do not let them escape!" The young Steel still had some childish expectations of their leader. The soldiers focused on him as a target. "A Sword!" A soldier shouted before twin short swords killed him. The soldiers must have thought bringing him down would stop the wave of death crashing into them. "Archers! Take down the Sword!" "Gallis!" The soldiers erred on the side of caution and tried to pin the wedge. They held back from a full assault, waiting for archers who did not come. The Steel adjusted quickly, collapsing the wedge to let the soldiers meet him, reforming it, and collapsing it again. He moved out of the wedge as soon as the high commander's tent came into sight. The young Steel changed tactics again, forming a line behind him and following as he killed his way to the target. The Steel flowed to the left and right when he broke into the clearing in front of the tent. "I thought all the Swords were dead," the oldest male in the clearing said. "I am Steel. You were unworthy of a Sword." "Kill him!" the high commander shouted. None of his sub-commanders moved, but five others did--personal guards wearing uniforms from noble families instead of the Chuutai or Hokubu colors. Shin commanders and their personal guards would have attacked en masse, even if they did not believe the stories about Gallis. The five guards advanced in separate groups: the three who wore the same uniform held back to see what they faced while the other two moved forward immediately. The two died, and he was among the others before any realized-- the stories were true. "Sammel!" the oldest commander gasped as three sword strokes took down his personal guard. The sub-commanders died before they could draw steel. "Spare..." "No mercy for Sammel worshippers in Gallis." The young Steel had a final duty--getting him out of the camp, "Steel, retreat!" ------- He stood on the bridge. There wasn't enough Steel left to both pursue the Hokubu soldiers with a significant force and also chase the remaining Chuutai back to the Imperial City. The commanders' deaths had the expected result. The soldiers stopped working together above the company level. The loss of the youngest Steel meant the remaining Gallis survivors could use slashing passes to cut a company from the retreating army and whittle their enemy to a panicked flight. The Hokubu broke first. They headed north at the fastest pace they could maintain, but to make it home they first had to cross the bridge. It took a delicate hand to bait a frontal attack though. Too much Steel on the bridge, and the soldiers would not risk going through them. "I didn't expect you to survive the attack on the commanders," Alessandra told the half-elf girl. "No archers responding to my arrows." "That's a very... pretty bow."" "Sung wood." "Really?" "It's even more special than that." "How can there be something more special than an elf Sung bow?" Alessandra asked. He turned and stared at the girl. Anyone who had seen an elf would have recognized her heritage. He looked at the bow. "Would you like to touch it?" she asked him. "Is it true?" Alessandra asked. "You can hear the song if you put a hand on the wood." "Dragons don't sing very well," the girl replied with a smile. "It sounds more like an avalanche than a song." "A dragon sang the bow!" Alessandra whispered. "For my elfin grandfather," the girl said, ignoring Alessandra to stare into his eyes. "Grandmother says the dragon was very pretty, almost dainty. If it weren't for the dragon and elf problem, I might not have been born." He turned around. "Her name was Autumn Leaves." "Dragons have the prettiest names," Alessandra said. "They're here," he said. "Remember, the horses." "Yes," the half-elf replied. The horsemen could force a path with a charge. The Hokubu stopped outside the girl's range. She had given them plenty of opportunities to take that particular measure. "This is the last of the distractions." Alessandra moved to his right as she spoke. He extended his sword out to her; she drew one of her own and created the necessary space between them. Notching an arrow, the half-elf girl took position behind and between them. "I'd like to have taken my time with them," the girl said. "You're not here to avenge the Hokubu Massacres," he told her. The girl was Steel, but the Hokubu attempted to exterminate all elves and dwarves within their borders. "They didn't try to kill off dragons," she said. "Not even Hokubu are that stupid," Alessandra quipped. "These cowards won't attack, even with only three of us on the bridge." "They don't have a choice," he said. "Gallis!" The Hokubu soldiers were struck with the same fear-born hesitation, but, this time, it did not cost them any lives because the Steel behind them were coming in slowly. The choice was simple -- the three were fewer than those approaching from the rear. The girl's bow sang when the Hokubu decided and the Steel closed in fast from behind. Committed, the Hokubu had to continue the charge on the bridge as their horses died. He looked behind him when the arrows stopped flying. Alessandra laughed at the the girl's impertinent shrug. Without horses, it took much longer than he expected for the Hokubu to finally get to them. The girl's arrows flew over the heads of the front line. Alessandra was the first to strike as the Hokubu did everything they could to avoid his sword. He knew the pressure would be on Alessandra's side so they took position in the middle of the bridge. Alessandra pressed forward by force of will and sword, folding the line towards him. Neck. Inner thigh. Cleaving through a bowel. Backward step to make space. Neck. Grab the sword as the soldier fell. Duck. Upward thrust into the armpit. Alessandra and he stepped back. The Hokubu bodies acted as a barrier. He could see fear on the soldiers' faces as Alessandra casually wiped her swords clean and waited for another wave. "Gallis!" The half-elf girl laughed as her bow sang its avalanche again. ------- "I guess the Emperor was right not send Shin soldiers," Alessandra said as they walked through the open gates. "Will the nobles' soldiers interfere?" the half-elf girl asked. "The Shin nobility hasn't strayed far enough to stand against Gallis," Alessandra replied. "Most of the Hokubu nobles have probably left the city." "Not all of them!" "The one whispering in the Emperor's ear is still here," he told them. "Can I kill him?" the girl asked. He turned around, only the very oldest Steel and the half-elf girl remained. "There will be some Shin nobles who will make a show of standing with the Emperor." "Their swordmasters," Alessandra said. He nodded. "They'll be in the throne room," Alessandra said. "The Chuutai headed towards their barracks and there won't be many left after we dig them out." "Or none." He stared towards the docks. The Steel waited. "The Emperor," he said looking at Alessandra and the girl. "If we finish the Chuutai and any of us survive, the Emperor and the Hokubu will run." "If we kill the Emperor, the Chuutai will run," Alessandra said. "Can I kill the Hokubu and their pet Emperor?" the girl asked him. He turned and walked towards the Chuutai barracks. ------- Okugata Kinjo needed a chair. If she were in Minami, everyone would understand a woman bearing a difficult second child should be given whatever she wanted. Really! "You don't look well," Lord Kinjo said. "It's the smell of blood!" she whispered. "The baby is also practicing sword strokes. Don't you dare smile, Ginaz!" The upward curl to Swordmaster Ginaz's lips was only perceptible to those he served and served with. No one remembered the smile prior to Okugata Kinjo's first joke about her second child and sword practice in the womb. "I'm glad our son is not here," Okugata Kinjo said, instantly sorry as the Swordmaster's smile faded. He was prohibited from doing his duty of training the Kinjo heir. Of everyone, Swordmaster Ginaz had been the most surprised by Lord Kinjo's decision. "Maybe if we ask the girl politely she'll let me leave," Okugata Kinjo suggested. "She seems nice enough, and it's been some time since she killed anyone." "She already killed all the fools," Lord Kinjo said. Okugata Kinjo leaned against her husband as another wave of dizziness struck her. "I shouldn't have come. The baby's time is too close." "Now?" Lord Kinjo's voice took an edge. Swordmaster Ginaz put hands on his swords and stepped towards the girl. "You will not stand against the Child, Ginaz!" Okugata Kinjo hissed. Considering the difficulty of her second pregnancy, she was glad not to have converted to worshipping the Lady, like her husband. "I was only going to do as you instructed, Okugata." She raised a suspicious eyebrow at his words. He smiled again before continuing, "See if the girl would understand about your delicate condition and let you pass before you added birth blood to all she and the half-elf archer spilled already." Okugata Kinjo looked at the body of the archer. The girl was too young to have died such a death. She had been struck by at least twenty arrows. No judgment of the Child's will of course, just the Emperor's insanity! "I was raised in Gallis, Okugata," Ginaz said. "The girl might only be Steel, but I wouldn't face her swords yet." "The idiots should have learned after the first girl killed the archers," Lord Kinjo said looking around the second level of the Throne Room. Okugata Kinjo stared up at the dead bodies of the Emperor's archers. "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it. Not even if you told me the girl was a Sword." "Even a Sword couldn't have done that," Ginaz said. "The males won't touch bows, though the females are as good as elves with them." "Believe me, an elf could not have matched the girl either," Okugata Kinjo said. The Emperor had gloated over his trap. The messenger who told him about the Steel breaking into two groups was the last person allowed into the throne room before the Emperor gave the order for the archers to kill anyone entering. Always the Gallis battle cry was forgotten. The girl shouted a moment before entering the Throne Room. "Gallis!" The power of it. Legend! Holy! Okugata Kinjo froze, fearing the judgment which the word brought when used in battle. The archers held their hand too. Long enough for the girl to get inside, and then she danced the leaves. Or the arrows in this case. Okugata Kinjo would have sworn she heard a rumble as the girl's arrows found their targets. The archers recovered as the first of them died. The only thing that prevented a massacre of the nobles was the girl stayed near the center of the throne room. The nobles gasped when the girl stepped on an arrow shot at her and took to the air. Skipping, floating from arrow to arrow, her bow sang. There were too many archers for her to survive, but she did not fall until she made sure no one else would be met by the Emperor's arrows. "It has to be a Sung bow," Okugata Kinjo said. As the girl fell, she twisted so the bow would rest on top of her body. Everyone stared at Ginaz as he laughed. "A half-elf girl called to serve and wielding a Sung bow!" The entire throne room seemed to shudder as people tried to move farther away from the girl kneeling at the entrance. Unlike the archer, she still breathed. The bodies of swordmasters attested to the nobles' reason for fearing the girl. "If she hadn't been exhausted, they wouldn't have gotten to her either," Lord Kinjo said. "A year from being placed in the Warrior's hand," Ginaz replied with a nod. "Shin swords were modeled after the ones the Elf Twins wield. The girl isn't wielding Shin swords though." "Yes!" Okugata Kinjo clapped her hands. "There was something about her bothering me. Those swords are like yours, Ginaz." "No, Okugata," Ginaz said. "Mine stand somewhere between Shin and the Twins' swords, which I have only seen from a distance. The girl's swords are exact matches." "She is Hanzo's student!" Lord Kinjo's shock was obvious. He looked from the girl to the Emperor. "If it's true, his adopted mothers had a hand in her training," Okugata Kinjo said. "The swords speak for themselves," Ginaz replied. "Why is she hesitating?" Lord Kinjo asked, looking at the Emperor again. "If the Emperor finds out he's got someone connected to Hanzo within reach, he'll order everyone to attack her." "How do we stand, my Lord?" Swordmaster Ginaz asked. "I will not forsake the Lady for a Sammel worshipper." Lord Kinjo's reply made Okugata Kinjo gasp. "Arrangements have been made for our son. If the Emperor gives that order, get my wife to the docks, Ginaz. Her parents will give her sanctuary in Minami." "I will not..." Okugata Kinjo started to say but stopped when her husband turned. Her teeth clicked. "I will obey my husband." Okugata Kinjo looked at the ceiling and sighed. The bad part about being so pregnant was that, when her husband acted like LORD Kinjo, she was unable to enjoy it in the privacy of their bed chamber or the baths or, considering they were stuck in the throne room, a corner. "Without the Sword prayer, she'll bleed to death soon enough." Ginaz stared at the Emperor's personal guard. "They'll wait for her to die." "Lady!" Lord Kinjo cursed. "She's keeping us here." He said the words too loudly. They spread like wildfire around the room until the Emperor and his guards turned to look at Lord Kinjo. "Kill her!" the Emperor ordered, standing up from his throne. His guards jumped down the steps. They froze before heading towards the girl. They stared past her. The girl turned her head, closed her eyes and listened for what the guards saw. "Too late, Emperor!" The walls echoed the glory in her voice. "Oh!" Okugata Kinjo was not the only female to make the sound as the boy... No! As the man entered the Imperial Throne Room. "And the last Sword of Gallis comes to die at my feet," the Emperor shouted. "Swords died at Gallis, I am Steel," the Steel looked at the girl. "The Emperor is still alive?" "Shikaku." She nodded towards a Hokubu noble and his guards. "Sammel's dogs," the Steel said studying them. "The Goddess is kind." "We are the Daggers of Gallis," one of the Hokubu guards challenged. "My duty is not with you... yet," the Steel replied. "But if you say that again, I will gladly kill you and your leash holder first." "No," the Hokubu noble said. Lady Okugata smiled, if the noble's guards were assassins, their hatred of Swords and Steel could provoke them to foolishness. "Let the boy be," the Hokubu noble instructed his guards. "Mas--" The Emperor realized his mistake too late. "Finish it, wormling," the Steel said. "I'm sure everyone knows who you serve: the Hokubu, that noble dog keeper over there, and Sammel." "He lost them," Okugata Kinjo said looking at the Emperor. Her husband and Swordmaster Ginaz nodded. No Shin noble would openly stand with a worshipper of Sammel, not with someone called to serve the Goddess standing in the room. "Accept the Goddess's embrace, little sister," the Steel said to the girl. She stared up at him, "I would have been legend! Alone!" He knelt down until their eyes were at the same level. She collapsed into his arms. He lay her down gently, folding her clothing into as neat a state as they could achieve with what she had put them through. The last thing he did before standing was close her eyes. "If you would indulge me a few more moments," the Steel said to the room at large. He did not wait for a response. The Hokubu and Emperor's guards drew their weapons as he walked forward. He bent down to pick up the half-elf girl's bow. "Lady Kinjo," he said loudly. It had been so long since she heard the Minami honorific that Okugata Kinjo did not respond. When it registered, she remembered the Hokubu also used Lady instead of Okugata. "I'm here." Her voice quaked unseemly. She bit the inside of her cheek hard and tried again. "I'm here!" "The bow was Sung into being by a dragon," he told her. After all that had happened in the throne room, Lady Kinjo thought nothing else could shock her. She stared at the bow in his hands. Why was he holding it out her? "I can't take that! Elf Sung wood is precious enough. A dragon! Are you insane?" "Darling." Lord Kinjo voice stopped her from tumbling into hysterics. "I'm sure he has good reason." "It is not for you, Lady Kinjo," the Steel said. "You want me to give it someone," Lady Kinjo sighed. "To whom?" He shrugged and gestured with the bow. Swordmaster Ginaz prevented her from stepping forward; instead he crossed the distance necessary to take possession of the bow. Ginaz grabbed it and immediately released his grip. He shook his head and took the bow again, placing the cloth of his sleeves between his skin and the wood. He walked back to Lady Kinjo and offered the bow to her. "I don't think that's a good idea," she said. Ginaz looked at her belly and nodded agreement. Lord Kinjo stepped forward. "My Lord!" Ginaz warned. "I understand," Lord Kinjo replied, showing the swordmaster that his sleeves covered his hands too. "This isn't over yet. I'd rather have your hands free." "I would aspire to remain unnoticed," the Steel warned. Lady Kinjo smiled as the nobles on the other side of the throne room stopped edging towards the doors. Nobody who would stand with Gallis moved; they weren't in danger so nothing short of a rampaging dragon could chase them out. "Lady Kinjo." She looked nervously at the Steel again. What had she done to deserve all the attention? "This is a Shin style sword," he held out his sword for her study. "It is dwarven steel and forged by their king." Her hand flew to her mouth. The bow was one thing, but a sword created by the hands of her Minami Lord. It would have been among the greatest honors for her father to receive such a gift. The Steel couldn't mean what she thought. "A gift for your daughter when I am done here." Lord Kinjo and Swordmaster Ginaz turned to stare at her belly. A girl! Even priests of the Child had not been able to answer the question. A little girl! "Her name was Alessandra." The Steel looked towards the body of dead girl at the entrance. His eyes moved back to meet Lady Kinjo's. She understood; he had been called to serve. Alessandra was a lovely name and one certainly to be honored. "The worship of Sammel is an offense to the Goddess," the Steel said, taking his sword by the hilt and pointing it at the Emperor. Swordmaster Ginaz and Lord Kinjo pushed Lady Kinjo back, pressing her against the wall. The occupants of the Throne Room had been waiting for the words, but they couldn't help following the Kinjo example. Husbands and guards stepped in front of noblewomen. "How dare you!" The Emperor's face flushed red as he stood. "Deny it in front of your master." The Emperor froze; he looked at the Hokubu noble. The truth of the Steel's accusation was plain for all to see. "Kill him!" The Emperor's guard reacted to the words by charging. "Warrior!" Swordmaster Ginaz whispered. "That's a Sword in all but name!" Lady Kinjo had not witnessed the duel between Hanzo ne Gallis and the Imperial Heir, nor had she ever seen a Sword in battle. She did watch the Swordmaster's practice with the Kinjo soldiers every morning at home and had learned much about the killing of men in the throne room that day. Ginaz was a brutal fighter. Head. Elbows. Forearms. Knees. Sword edges. Point. Hilt. He took the shortest route to causing harm available. Alessandra had killed with refinement and grace. Almost dancing. Twirling. Swords spinning. Hard stops as steel found flesh. Swordmaster Ginaz judged her potential as great, but a year would not have brought the girl to what Lady Kinjo was a spectator to now. The Imperial Guard faced a thing made for killing. He waited for the guards to cross the distance. One moment still and the next, the sword and he moved. The first guard spun as the sword took him high. Blood sprayed across the remaining guards. It wasn't long before their blood flowed too. The Steel had no care for his own survival, moving into the middle of the guards. From there, he struck left and right. The guards spent precious seconds to surround him. It cost two of them their lives. There was no hesitation as the Steel finished the last guard; he took the steps up to the throne and thrust his sword into the Emperor's gut. Knowing how it would end, it was still hard to absorb. Lady Kinjo expected even someone from Gallis to say something before killing the highest noble in the Empire of Shin. Child! The man received the Lady's approval to wear the crown and it meant nothing to his executioner. "Master," the Emperor cried out to the Hokubu noble. "Dog!" Lord Kinjo spat. "That's the wrong way!" Swordmaster Ginaz watched the Hokubu guards moved forward. The Steel walked slowly down the steps. "He's exhausted and bleeding. Attack him hard!" "The Child hope they don't hear you," Lady Kinjo admonished. "Ginaz, if the Steel falls, the Hokubu must not be allowed to walk out of here," Lord Kinjo said. "My Lord," the swordmaster replied. He circled away from the fight to stand near the doors. Lady Kinjo saw what Ginaz meant by Hokubu taking the wrong tactic. They saw someone worn down so went slowly. Circling. Waiting for one of them to find an opening. Waiting for further weakening. It meant they would face the Steel one on one. A Shikaku found what he was waiting for. Maybe he had enough time to realize it never existed before he died. The Steel took the second shikaku low. It drove the remaining into action. Six might have been enough, but four meant the Steel could take what they had to kill them. "You're Hokubu," the noble said. Not a protest, a gloating expression of what he knew to be true. The Steel limped towards him. The noble raised his hand and whispered something. Blue and green light flashed from the noble's hand to the chest of his enemy. "That's impossible," the noble screamed as the Steel kept coming. "You're Hokubu! No mother would dare the Naming Ritual on our land! It is law that your name be given to us!" Lady Kinjo put her hands protectively on her belly. A True-Name Wizard! Only Sammel making an appearance and petting the noble on the head would have been greater proof of who the animal worshipped. "That wasn't my mother," the Steel said. "I can call my true mother; maybe she'll whisper my name in your ear if you ask her nicely." Lady Kinjo guessed that after watching an Emperor executed, a Hokubu noble meeting the same fate couldn't be shocking. Swordmaster Ginaz was the first to the Steel. Lord and Lady Kinjo were close behind him. "Say the Sword Prayer, boy," Ginaz said holding the Steel up. He no longer looked like someone who led a small army of children against the Emperor's Chuutai and Hokubu soldiers. "Foolish human," the boy said as he pushed Ginaz's arm away. "Why would I accept one more moment in this prison than was asked of me?" He stopped looking like a boy. Or a man. Or Steel of Gallis. Something was crawling out from inside him. Free at last! "For the girl," he said, pushing the sword toward Lady Kinjo. She took the naked blade in her hands, mindless of its cutting edge. He laughed as he looked around the room. "I AM RAIN NE RISING SUN!" he roared. The sound drove everyone to their knees in fear. "Dragon-soul," Lord Kinjo whispered. White mist took form behind the dragon made something less. It wrapped arms around him. The white continued solidifying--the Warrior come to take someone into her embrace. The face smiled at them as the white continued to envelop, until it took him from their sight. The Warrior's shape exploded soundlessly and white mist drifted to cover the floor. They were gone. ------- "He was a dragon?" the Imperial princess asked Lord Kinjo. "No, dear," Lady Kinjo said before kissing the forehead of her newborn daughter--Alessandra da Kinjo. As Lord, her husband's name had been changed when he inherited the title. Husband and wife shared a look. The princess's education was sadly lacking. As the third child, the Hokubu must not have thought her worthy to take into the worship of Sammel at such a young age. Though they ensured no one had enough access to teach her much about the Three-Faced Goddess either. "If there is great need, the Warrior will take the soul of a baby dragon from its mother's womb and place it into another of the Three-Faced Goddess's creations," Lady Kinjo explained. "The baby dragon dies?" The princess eyes widened. "No, darling," Lady Kinjo said. "The mother dragon must wait until her child's work is done before she can give birth." "Are there more of them?" the girl asked. "Yes," Swordmaster Ginaz replied, stepping into the room. "Gallis. The Elf Sword. The Dwarf Mountain. Those are the living ones I know about. The first Minami Lord was a dragon-soul too." "Go play, dear," Lady Kinjo told the girl. She watched as the princess moved to a corner of the room, where they'd placed her new toys. The girl touched each item gingerly as if making sure they wouldn't break. "Damn them!" "She won't be alone anymore, wife," Lord Kinjo said. "Well?" Lady Kinjo looked at Ginaz to distract herself. "I couldn't find my sister," he said. "They burned Gallis, Ginaz," Lord Kinjo pointed out. "It might be impossible to identify everyone who died." "If it was just her, my lord, I would agree with you." Ginaz gripped his sword hilt tightly. "Gallis. The Elf Twins not fight at their lover's side? That's impossible. Els. Cor. There are others too." "What do you mean?" Lord Kinjo asked. "It was obvious where Hanzo died. There were others I would have expected to die as hard but they didn't, and I could not find the body of any Sword I considered among the best called to serve, my Lord." "The Emperor couldn't have broken the Swords," Lady Kinjo said. "Gallisean Steel put him and his Chuutai to death. Those were children!" "None of the stories are true." Ginaz nodded to Lady Kinjo. "If the Chuutai killed Swords, they did it with poison or like Hanzo, a lot of arrows." "As far as anyone knows, the Swords of Gallis are no more though," Lord Kinjo said thoughtfully. "Why would the Lady do this?" "The Sea Elves," Lady Kinjo said. "They've closed Minami," Lord Kinjo said. "They won't say why." "My father sent a letter," Lady Kinjo said to the surprise of the men. "A Dark army attacked Minami." "And they didn't request help?" Ginaz asked shocked. "Of an Emperor who set out to destroy Gallis," Lady Kinjo replied. Ginaz nodded and sat down. "The prince met the Dark Champion on the steps of the Lady's Temple." She walked to a window and stared at the sky, "There wasn't a child born of the Dragon line for years. Every member of the Lady's bloodline, who could, died fighting the Dark army." "If there is no Dragon Prince," Lord Kinjo said, "Hokubu will insist Minami be put under full dominion of the new Emperor." "The Sea Elves will sink any ship that approaches Minami without their permission," Lady Kinjo said. "Neither Hokubu nor Shin can break their blockade." "Minami is a part of the Empire," Lord Kinjo insisted. "They cannot be allowed to separate themselves like this." "The Emperor attacked Gallis!" Lady Kinjo refused to give ground. "It doesn't matter anyway. The Dragon Heir took his first breath eight months ago." "And they told no one outside of Minami," Ginaz stated, not surprised anymore. "His mother was given instruction by the Lady--name the boy to honor the father," Lady Kinjo replied with a smile. "Where is he?" Lord Kinjo asked. "If Hokubu finds out there is only one child of the Dragon line left... The Sea Elves have very good reason to close Minami to outsiders." "The missing Swords!" Ginaz snapped his fingers. "The Heir is not in Minami." Lord Kinjo nodded, "But the Sea Elves blockade focuses Hokubu and the new Emperor on Minami." "Not that the Sea Elves need a reason to sink Hokubu ships," Lady Kinjo said. Silence fell on the room for some time. "Is the princess the right choice, my Lord?" Ginaz asked finally, looking at the girl. "With no Hokubu in court, you could have taken the new Emperor under your wing. The nobles would have accepted a regency." "The Sammel worshippers had their hooks in the boy already," Lord Kinjo replied. "No Swords and now Minami isolating itself, he was the wrong choice. The princess on Kinjo lands may be the only thing that prevents the Hokubu from assassinating the Emperor and placing one of their own on the Throne." "And they won't be able to move against the Kinjo openly," the lady finished for her husband. "What do we do now, my Lord?" Ginaz asked. "We prepare for whatever the Lady intends." ------- The End ------- Posted: 2007-12-08 Last Modified: 2007-12-09 / 01:37:28 am Version: 1.10 ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------