The palace was dark, and lanterns flickered in the hallways as if afraid to
shed their light.
It had been too long since the sun had risen over its gold and green
banners, too long since the shadow of night had been driven back.
Toshiken's footsteps echoed hollowly as he paced the hallway, sending
back his guards as he had been bid.
Toturi called for him, and the Emerald Champion obeyed his command.
The throne room was dark, unnatural shadows playing in every corner.
Nothing shone here, no lantern flickered save the faint light of the Jade
Throne, and the small candles that rested in brackets on the tall wooden
beams that held the ceiling aloft. The room was empty...empty save for
one man.
On his throne, his head lowered in dark thoughts, the Emperor waits.
Three steps, and a swift bow, then Toshiken knelt before the dark Lord
on his throne of jade. "Your will, master." His voice seemed too loud,
unmuffled by the whispers of courtiers and the flutter of fans. The court
was gone, freed from the day's politic. They were alone. Toturi rolled a
steel ball as large as a man's fist from side to side, smiling at its
smoothness.
"Night, Toshiken-san," the Emperor smiled faintly. "Night has come."
"Hai, Toturi-sama. Night. It is time to rest. Your guards..."
"No guards." Toturi's hand waved idly. "No guards, Emerald Champion.
I wish to speak to only you."
"As you wish Master."
Toturi leaned back into his throne, running his hands along the carved
lions that snarled beneath the arms of the chair. "The courtiers, they
whisper. They whisper...and they murmur, and they talk. You, Toshiken.
You are a man of action. Tell me...tell me about these Mantis, and their
war."
"The...?" Toshiken stumbled over the words, surprised. "Yes,
Toturi-sama. The Mantis war on the Asako lands. They take the land
with armies, but they do not kill. They bring food from their islands,
feeding the starving peasants as they seize the land. Yoritomo's men do
it...because the heimin are dying. The Phoenix do not have the samurai to
attend to their holdings."
"And the Phoenix?" Toturi asked quietly.
"They fight for lands they have held more than a thousand years, my lord.
It is their duty - though they do not have the men to hold the palaces, they
will continue their war. A word from you could stop this. If you
choose..."
"Enough, Toshiken," the Emperor interrupted. "Yoshi...told me another
tale of this war. One that has the Mantis to be butchers, pillaging and
destroying the Asako. Ruining the land. Should I believe you, or him?
One tells me the truth and the other lies. One must die and one must live.
But you are a samurai. You will die with honor, and that will not bring me
silence. I am so tired of the arguments..." Toturi frowned. "You will stop
all the talking. All the whispering, all the petty bickering - I grow tired of
it. I do not wish to be reminded of it any more. They are like children;
their voices are nothing more than whispers in the dark, after the night has
fallen. They will not rest, will not sleep. They will not let me be...in
silence."
"The children will not stop their whispering..." The last was said lower,
almost covered by the tinkling of the silvery ball. "Do you have a family,
Toshiken-sama?"
Hai...a son, and a daughter." Ishiko was five, her brother seven. They
were the light of Toshiken's world.
"Do they whisper to you in your sleep?"
Chills raced through Toshiken's spine. "Yes, Lord."
"The courtiers beg me to stop this war, like children, complaining." The
steel ball fell idly from hand to hand as Toturi spoke. "So I will stop it. I
will stop all mention of it. The children must die. Do you understand me?"
"Hai, Toturi-sama."
"Now," the Emperor leaned forward in his chair, leveling his eyes with
those of his Champion. "Whose children will die, Toshiken. Yours...or
mine?"
The silvered ball rolled to the edge of the Emperor's fingertips, falling
slowly to the ground. When it landed upon the hard floor of the Imperial
throne room, it shattered into a hundred silvery shards; their glimmer lost
in the darkness of the shadow that surrounded the throne.
Blood stained the courtyard, spread in scarlet waves down the palace
hallways, scattered in droplets across the shoji screens of chambers that
belonged to the Imperial Court. When he was finished, Toshiken once
more entered the throne room of the Emperor.
"They...are silent, my lord." Though he fought to control it, Toshiken's
proud voice shook with refret and pain. "There will be no more
whispering."
"Yes, Toshiken. Now, there will be silence. You have my thanks for
bringing me silence. Now I will aid you. Let me show you my gratitude."
Kneeling on either side of Toturi's throne were two small forms dressed
in the brown and gold of the Seppun. Their kimono were too large for
them, their tiny hands pulled deep within voluminous sleeves.
"Ishiko? Sajiro?" Toshiken stepped toward his children and opened his
arms. When they looked up at him, their featureless faces were smooth
as glass.
