Free L5r - scroll 03 - The Crane by Ree Soesbee Page B

for your own life, as I'm sure many of my guests do. I assure you, Tsuru-san, the guards have been doubled, and the assassins will not return."
    Puffed up with irritated pride, Tsuru blustered, "Fear? Me? I served on the Great Wall of Kaiu. I have destroyed three oni by my own hand and slaughtered ten legions of goblins! Why should I be afraid of mere men, here in the heart of the empire?"
    "Excellent," Hoturi smiled. "Then you will do us the honor of returning to our other guests and informing them that they too have nothing to fear. I am certain they will trust the word of such an esteemed member of the Crab house."
    Trapped again by his pride, Tsuru paused, his face reddening. He nodded. Bowing curtly, he stood and turned on his heel. As the Doji at the door bowed and opened the sliding screens, Tsuru muttered to himself, "I will tell them all. There is nothing to fear in the lands of the Crane."
    Hoturi sipped his tea again, pretending not to have heard the insult. Kuwanan's face reddened with anger. Without glancing at his lord, the Doji closed the screen once more, standing in the hallway outside the doorway.
    The red clouds of morning touched the corners of the sky, filtering the first rays of the Sun Goddess down onto the earth. As the windows brightened, Kuwanan stepped forward again, allowing his anger to cool into indignation.
    "How can you allow him to speak that way? To disrespect your authority?"
    Hoturi's demeanor changed abruptly. The last vestiges of his control slipped away. "Kuwanan-san," he barked with such fury that his brother took an involuntary step backward. Hoturi stood, raising himself from the cushion on the dais and stepping down to be level with his brother. In the early morning light, his face seemed carved from ice, the sharp cheekbones and strong jaw perfectly highlighted by the first rays of dawn. "If you believe I have allowed that low animal to have the better of me, perhaps your loyalty to your clan is misplaced."
    Kuwanan, eyes wide from Hoturi's sudden assault, regained his footing and lashed out again. "He speaks to you as through you were barely his better—as though the attack was your planning."
    "No doubt that is exactly what he has been led, by the Lion, to believe."
    "Then why did you not contradict it?"
    "If I had, would that not have been proof of its truth?" A full five breaths passed between them before Hoturi spoke again. "Right now, Tsuru walks through the palace as if at my command, informing the guests that Kyuden Kakita has not been compromised. That alone will speak a hundred scrolls. What do you think the Phoenix and the Unicorn will believe when they see the Crab moving at my will, and despite his rough words, speaking of the safety of my house? I do not care what Tsuru believes. I care what the empire sees. What the houses of the empire believe becomes truth. The defense of our clan is not gained by convincing your enemies of your sincerity. Only of your strength."
    Kuwanan glanced at the stoic Daidoji guardsmen that stood behind the dais, their faces as emotionless as stone. They had not questioned their lord, although his motives had surely been as strange to them as they had seemed to Kuwanan.
    The samurai felt his face grow red with shame. "Hoturi-sama, forgive me. You are right. It is not my place to question you."
    A smile wickedly spread across Doji Hoturi's lips as he placed his hand on Kuwanan's shoulder. "Kuwanan-san, if it is not your place as my brother, then it is no man's place at all."
    "Hai, Hoturi-sama." The friendliness that had grown between them as brothers returned, and Kuwanan's broad face broke into a half-hearted grin.
    "The Lion have taught you that wars must be fought on the battlefields. Now that you are home," Hoturi continued, walking toward his chambers for some much-needed rest, "you must learn that not all battles can be won with swords."
    "Sleep well, Brother."
    "Three hours," said Hoturi, watching the Crane guards slide the shoji