Free L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix by Stephen D. Sullivan Page A

door in the northeast corner of the engawa. He stood aside, letting the others descended before him. As they went, he took one last, lingering look at the garden.
    Will I see this place again? he wondered.
    WARS
    l^^achiko, wife of the emperor, fixed Seppun Ishikawa with her gaze. The captain of the guard fancied he saw green flecks dancing within her deep black orbs.
    "Why have you come, Captain Ishikawa?" Kachiko asked, her voice like music on a summer evening. Her tone belied the momentary flash of ferocity in her eyes. Though stripped of the Scorpion name, Kachiko still wore the fine silk mask she had favored as the wife of the late Bayushi Shoju. Ishikawa found the mask disconcerting. Why does the emperor permit her to wear it? he wondered.
    "My men are on edge, Kachiko-sama," Ishikawa replied. He touched his forehead to the wooden floor of the audience chamber where the two of them sat. The room was deep inside the Hantei castle, not too far from the emperor's bedroom. Kachiko sat on a thick tatami mat at one end of the room. She looked radiant in the flowing imperial robes that both
    hid her figure and enhanced it. The robes spread out around her, two arms' lengths in every direction—a visible reminder of her vast sphere of influence.
    Despite himself, despite knowing the scorpion that lurked beneath the pretty facade, Ishikawa still found her beauty intoxicating. He swallowed hard to fight down the feeling. When he looked up again, Kachiko was rolling her head languidly, waiting for him to continue. Her black hair fell about her shoulders like a waterfall. Her movements made a sensuous groove at the pit of her neck.
    "The guardsmen know of the turmoil in the country, and yet they must sit and do nothing," Ishikawa continued. "They long to join the fight against the minions of the Evil One."
    "By protecting the emperor," Kachiko said calmly, "they do fight the Evil One."
    "They know that," Ishikawa said. "As do I. To guard the emperor is their honor as well as their duty. It is the job they were born to, and they would have no other. Yet, the emperor is ill, and an enemy to fight is one thing, but this plague—"
    Kachiko nodded sympathetically.
    "It robs them of their honor. It attacks the emperor where they cannot defend him. Some of the men say we should ride to the Shadowlands and wipe out the plague at its source."
    "Is that what you say, Captain Ishikawa?" Kachiko asked, arching one delicate eyebrow.
    Ishikawa face reddened. "It is not my place even to think such things, Your Highness."
    Kachiko leaned back and straightened the folds of her kimono. "I already know all this, Ishikawa," she said. "I repeat my question. Why have you come?"
    Ishikawa tucked his thumbs into the edge of his obi and said, "Your samurai would feel better, I think, if they could see the emperor."
    "See the emperor?" Kachiko asked skeptically.
    "He has not made a public appearance for some time," Ishikawa replied. "Rumors say he is dead."
    "Dead?" Kachiko said. "And if that were so, why would I not have announced the fact to the world?" Her words came out terse and clipped. She frowned at him.
    "The clans still vie for supremacy," Ishikawa replied. "The daimyo think that whoever wins will seize the right to succeed to the Emerald Throne. Such people don't care that the emperor still lives. Some are spreading rumors like the ones my men have heard. The royal yojimbo speculate that you are waiting to see who is the most worthy before announcing Hantei's death. Choosing the time of the announcement would be your right, of course."
    "Is that what you think, Ishikawa?"
    "No, Kachiko-sama. But I have heard it said."
    Kachiko turned and straightened her robes once again, tracing the folds into intricate, origamilike patterns. "Your samurai need to hold their tongues and put wax in their ears," she said quietly but sternly. "Such talk can cost lives."
    Ishikawa nodded. "Hai, Kachiko-sama. I know it. And, if it is your wish, I'll cut out the