Free Chasing the Secret by Maya Snow

you? I’m trying to sleep.”
    Swiftly Tatsuya swung the lantern around, and by its flickering light we could just make out the huddled shape of the drunkard who’d caused such a stir in the inn. He was sitting in one of the stalls with his back propped against the stable wall. A horse loomed over him, half-asleep, twitching its tail.
    â€œSorry,” Hana said, giving a little bow. “We didn’t know anyone else was in here.”
    â€œWell, I’m in here,” the drunkard said flatly, his dark eyes flashing. “And I’d appreciate it if you kept the noise down.”
    Tatsuya and I nodded and began to tiptoe past him, but Hana lingered for a moment.
    â€œThe innkeeper was rough with you earlier,” she said, her voice soft with concern.
    The drunkard shrugged. “So what if he was?”
    â€œDon’t you have a home you could go to?” Hana persisted.
    â€œI have many places I could go to,” the drunkard replied, staring up at her from between his curtains of ragged hair. “But none are as warm and dry as this stable.”
    I came back to stand beside Hana and stared down at the drunkard. The man returned my gaze with clear brown eyes. Beneath the grime, he lookedyoung, his skin fresh and unlined.
    â€œYou don’t seem as drunk now as you were earlier,” I observed.
    He shrugged, an amused smile curving his lips. “I may be drunk; I may be not,” he said. “But either way, the innkeeper threw me out before I had to pay for my meal.” He paused and considered us. “One thing is certain—I meant what I said about a storm coming. You youngsters would do well to deliver your message and then keep on walking. Leave this province and don’t come back.” His eyes burned as he stared up at us. “Those who stay within the Kaminari’s reach are doomed.”
    Words like that, spoken above the hard drumming of rain on the stable roof, sounded like a prophecy. I had to stop myself from shivering.
    â€œWho are you?” Tatsuya asked, crouching down beside the man. “There is the look of the samurai about you. Yet you dress in rags and the scabbard of your sword is old and the metal decorations rusty.”
    â€œYou have a sharp eye, young man,” the man said with a wolfish grin. “I was once a samurai—a captain for the old Jito , Lord Yoshijiro. But I will never swear loyalty to his brother.”
    Hana and I stared at him. This man had once been an officer in Father’s army, yet we had never been aware of him because of our position of privilege. Ifelt a moment of regret as I realized there must always have been people like this—anonymous, invisible, yet important for my family’s safety and well-being.
    â€œThe code of the bushi says that you owe your loyalty to the Jito ,” Hana reminded him, her voice soft, “whoever he may be.”
    But the captain shook his head. “I owe nothing to a lord who breaks the bushi code with every move he makes,” he muttered. “Do you know Lord Hidehira is planning to invade estates in the Sagami province?” In disgust, he spat into the filthy straw that lined the floor of the stable, then wiped his mouth with the cuff of his kimono. “Lord Yoshijiro spent years forging an alliance with Lord Kanahara of southern Sagami. And now his brother wants to smash the accord and go to war.”
    I gazed at the captain, suddenly realizing that this was no ordinary drunk. Here was a man who had been close enough to my father to know about his political maneuvers.
    I crouched down beside Tatsuya, looking at the captain urgently. “How do you know this?” I asked.
    He glared back at me. “I know because Lord Hidehira was recruiting troops to march east with his army. East to Sagami! I refused to join, so he had me stripped of all my possessions. Now I am ronin , a samurai with no master. And so I am forced to wanderfrom place to