'Greetings, Jito-san. My name is Eiko.' Then, looking past Jito, he saw the Emperor and Shukin, easily distinguished from the villagers in their Senshi robes. This time, he bowed more deeply. 'Greetings, Lord Shigeru.'
Jito looked sharply at the Emperor as he heard Eiko's words. He was not entirely happy to have even more strangers descend upon his people. The wounded Senshi had put a heavy strain on Riverside Village's resources. At a time when they should be making final preparations for the coming winter, the villagers were distracted by having to care for the wounded warriors.
'Good morning, Eiko. Is there some kind of problem?' The Emperor's keen eyes had noticed that some of the newcomers were injured. Half a dozen were bandaged and three others were being assisted by friends.
'You know these people, my lord?' Jito asked suspiciously.
Shigeru nodded. 'They offered us their hospitality last night. I'm afraid that may have cost them dearly.' The last statement was really a question to Eiko, but even before the villager answered, Shigeru thought he knew the answer.
Eiko nodded. 'That's true, Lord Shigeru,' he said. 'But no fault of yours. Arisaka's men reached our village a few hours after you were gone.'
Shigeru heard a quick intake of breath from his cousin.
'But we saw Arisaka's army! They were two or three days behind us!' Shukin said.
'His main force, yes. This was a scouting party who had come on ahead. A dozen warriors, well mounted and travelling light.' Eiko's lip curled in contempt. 'So light that they didn't bother bringing their own supplies. They simply took whatever they wanted from our people.'
There was a murmur from the Riverside Villagers who were listening to this exchange. It was a mixture of anger and fear in equal amounts. In the past, they had all experienced the depredations of marauding Senshi parties. Eiko acknowledged their reaction with a meaningful nod.
'You're right to worry about it,' he said. 'They're checking all the villages in the region. They'll be here before too long.'
That statement evoked a storm of exclamations from the villagers. Some were of a mind to abandon the village and hide in the forest. Others wanted to stay and protect their belongings. Jito held up his hand to still the babble of excited voices.
'Be quiet!' he shouted and the voices died away to an embarrassed silence. 'We need to plan calmly, not run around like headless chickens.' He looked back to Eiko. 'Some of your men are injured. I take it these Senshi didn't simply stop at stealing supplies?'
Eiko shook his head bitterly. 'No. They searched the village for anything of value – as they usually do. And -'
'And they found the coins we gave your headman,' Shigeru finished for him, his face grim.
'Yes, lord. They saw the royal crest on those coins and wanted to know how we had come by them.'
Horace had been a silent spectator to all of this. After days of hard riding, he had indulged in the practice of all experienced warriors to catch up on sleep whenever the opportunity arose. Hearing the voices from the village square, he had emerged, rubbing his eyes and pulling on a shirt as he came. He had been in time to hear Eiko's account of events and he remembered the coins Shukin had given to the Ayagi, the headman. They were gold, which would have been enough to raise suspicions in such a poor village. But to compound the problem, they had been clearly marked with the Emperor's symbol of three cherries. They could only have come from one source.
'Ayagi-san refused to tell them where he had got the coins,' Eiko continued. 'They killed him. Then they ran amok through the village, burning cabins, killing women and the old people.' He indicated his companions. 'Some of us managed to escape into the forest in the confusion.'
Shigeru shook his head bitterly. 'He should have told them,' he said. 'They would have known anyway.'
'Perhaps, Lord Shigeru. But Ayagi was a proud man. And he was loyal to you.'
'So I'm responsible for his death,' Shigeru said in a tired, defeated voice.
Eiko and Jito exchanged quick glances. The individual Kikori villages might treat each other with suspicion. But they were true to the ancient ways and they were united in their loyalty to the Emperor – both the concept and the man himself.
Jito said firmly, 'You were not the cause, Lord Shigeru. The blame lies with the oath-breaker, Arisaka. These actions have set him against the Kikori.'
'If anyone was to blame, it was me,' Eiko said. The pain was all too evident in his voice. 'We watched like cowards from the forest as they killed our people and destroyed our village. We did nothing!'
Shukin shook his head. 'You couldn't do anything against trained Senshi,' he said. 'And losing your own lives wouldn't have helped your people.'
Horace had been edging forward through the crowd. Now, he decided, it was time for him to take part.
'Nor would it have helped your Emperor,' he said, and all eyes swung to him. 'He needs men to help him fight Arisaka, not to throw away their lives to no purpose.'
He saw Eiko's shoulders straighten and sensed the new resolve in the stocky timber worker. A murmur of assent ran through the people of both villages. Years of resentment at their high-handed treatment by the Senshi were suddenly focused into an opportunity for defiance – an opportunity centred on the person of their Emperor.
'Well said, Kurokuma!' Shukin called to him, smiling. He turned to the assembled Kikori. He too could see the new sense of purpose infusing them. The tall gaijin had an excellent sense of timing, he thought, and an excellent choice of words to fire the spirits of these people.
'We do need you. The Kikori will be the loyal heart of the Emperor's new army. We will train you. We will teach you to fight!'
A roar of enthusiasm and defiance greeted these words. Many felt that arrogant, overbearing Senshi such as Arisaka had enjoyed their own way far too long in Nihon-Ja. Even without the cold-blooded destruction of the neighbouring village, Arisaka's act of treason towards the Emperor was enough to harden their hearts against him. But there were still some who favoured caution. As the cries of defiance died down, one older woman voiced their thoughts.
'But what if Arisaka's men come here? We're not ready to fight them yet.'
Horace saw the doubt begin to spread among the Kikori. They didn't believe in their own ability to face armed Senshi warriors. But they were forgetting one important fact. He stepped forward into the clear space around the Emperor, Eiko and Jito.
'You said there were a dozen in the scouting party?' he asked.
Eiko nodded. 'A dozen. Maybe a few more.'
Horace smiled at the answer. He looked around the assembled group of Senshi loyal to the Emperor – a dozen in his immediate bodyguard and at least another twenty-five uninjured survivors from the battle at Ito.
'It seems to me,' he said, 'that for once we have Arisaka's men seriously outnumbered.'
Evanlyn and Alyss were practising their fencing skills on the foredeck, under the somewhat bemused eye of Selethen.
Evanlyn's exploits in Skandia and Arrida in recent years had been widely reported throughout Araluen – she was, after all, the crown princess and enjoyed a certain amount of celebrity. As a result, many Araluan women and girls had been influenced to take a greater interest in weapon skills. Alyss was one of these, but her motivation went beyond following what was currently seen to be fashionable. She had been more than a little frustrated by her inability to defend herself effectively when she was captured by the traitor knight Keren at Castle Macindaw. She had determined that she would never let that happen again. This new emphasis on martial skills was evidenced by the fact that her dagger, part of the Courier uniform, had changed from a narrow, needle-pointed ceremonial design to a more practical – and more lethal – heavy-bladed fighting knife.
In addition, she had taken to practising the javelin and to wearing a lightweight sabre while on assignments. It was a style of sword rapidly gaining popularity with girls her age. Evanlyn had a similar weapon and, when they discovered the fact, it was only logical that they should practise together.
Logical, perhaps. But not wise.
One of the ship's crew had carved wooden practice weapons for them and the two girls began a daily training routine. Selethen had offered his services as an instructor and referee after watching the first few sessions and both girls had accepted the offer.
'Very well,' he said now, 'fighting positions, please, ladies…'
'That's debatable,' Halt said in an undertone to Will as they stood watching. A number of the off-duty crew had gathered to watch as well. There was a certain enjoyment to be had in watching two extremely attractive girls trying to split each other's skulls open with wooden swords.
'The "fighting" part or the "ladies" part?' Will replied with a grin.
Halt looked at him and shook his head. 'Definitely the "ladies",' he said. 'There's no debate about the "fighting".'
Will shrugged. He knew that there was an edginess to the girls' relationship and that it had something to do with him. Why that should be so was beyond him.
'Weapon a little higher, Evanlyn,' Selethen said. 'You tend to drop your guard too low.'
He waited as she adjusted the position of her sword, then glanced at Alyss to see if she was ready. The blonde girl had an edge over the princess in skill, he had noticed. Probably because she had a more focused approach to her swordsmanship. When she practised, a small furrow formed between her brows, evidence of the concentration and sense of purpose she was putting into her moves. Evanlyn, on the other hand, was a little slapdash in her approach. She had taken lessons in the sabre for some time, but never with any particular dedication to the weapon. She was faster than Alyss, but Alyss, tall and athletic, had a longer reach and stride, and Evanlyn tended to let herself get off balance too often.