Then Evanlyn let out a rising shriek of delight.
'Horace!' Before the startled Kikori could stop her, she bounded to him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him so fiercely that he found it difficult to breathe properly. Two of the men who had been guarding the group moved to drag her away but Horace stopped them with a hand gesture. He was quite enjoying having Evanlyn hug him.
'It's fine,' he said. 'They're friends of mine.' A little reluctantly, he disengaged from Evanlyn's hug, although he was pleased that she remained close by him, her arm possessively around his waist. He grinned at Halt, Will and Alyss as they, too, recognised their old friend in the guise of a shabbily dressed, unkempt Nihon-Jan lumberjack.
'I have no idea how you all got here,' he said. 'But thank god you did!'
The Kikori, still puzzled but now realising the foreigners posed no threat, stood aside as the three Araluans surged forward to greet Horace, slapping his back – in the case of Will and Halt – and hugging him again in the case of Alyss. Evanlyn didn't relinquish her hold around Horace's waist and, when she deemed the hug had gone on long enough, she moved him subtly away from the Courier's embrace.
For a few garbled moments, they all spoke at once, in a mad babble of unanswered questions and declarations of relief. Then Horace noticed an unfamiliar figure, hanging back from the others. He looked more closely.
'Selethen?' he said, surprise in his voice. 'Where did you spring from?'
The tall Arridi stepped forward then and, in the manner of his people, embraced Horace, then made the graceful hand gesture to mouth, brow and mouth.
'Horace,' he said, a broad smile on his face. 'How good to see you alive and well. We've all been worried about you.'
'But…' Horace looked from one familiar face to another. 'How did you come to…?'
Before he could finish the question, Will interrupted, thinking to clarify matters but only making them more puzzling – as so often happens.
'We were all in Toscana for the treaty signing,' he began, then corrected himself. 'Well, Evanlyn wasn't. She came later. But, when she did, she told us you were missing, so we all boarded Gundar's ship – you should see it. It's a new design that can sail into the wind. But anyway, that's not important. And just before we left, Selethen decided to join us – what with you being an old comrade in arms and all – and…'
He got no further. Halt, seeing the confusion growing on Horace's face, held up a hand to stop his babbling former apprentice.
'Whoa! Whoa! Let's take it one fact at a time, shall we? Horace, is there anywhere we can talk? Perhaps we should sit down quietly and catch up with what's been going on.'
'Good idea, Halt,' said Horace, relief evident in his tone.
Will stopped, a little embarrassed as he realised that he had been running off at the mouth.
'Anyway, we're here,' he said. Then the embarrassment faded and he couldn't stop a broad grin breaking out on his face at the sight of his best friend. Horace responded in kind. He instinctively understood that Will's outburst was the result of intense relief that he, Horace, was safe and well.
Horace introduced his friends to Reito, who bowed in the Nihon-Jan fashion as he greeted each of them. The Araluans bowed but Horace, accustomed now to the action, saw that they were a little stiff and uncertain in their reply. Selethen was the only one who managed a graceful response, combining the bow with the standard Arridi hand gesture. The assembled Nihon-Jan stood by, interested spectators to all this. Once Reito had greeted his friends, Horace introduced them en masse to the watching Nihon-Jan. The Kikori and Senshi all bowed. Again, the newcomers responded.
'Lot of bowing goes on in this country,' Will said, out of the corner of his mouth.
'Get used to it,' Horace told him cheerfully. The sense of relief that he felt at the sight of his old friends was almost overwhelming. He had been beginning to feel out of his depth.
The assembled Nihon-Jan, seeing that the newcomers posed no danger, began to drift away.
'We'll go to my cabin to talk,' Horace said. 'Reito-san, would you ask the Emperor if he would see us in half an hour? I'd like to present my friends.'
'Of course, Kurokuma,' Reito replied. He bowed briefly and turned to hurry away. Horace responded automatically with a swift bow of his own.
Will, watching, mimicked the action uncertainly, not sure if he was supposed to join in or not. 'Does everyone bow to everyone here?' he asked.
'Pretty much,' Horace told him.
The one-room cabin that the Kikori had built for Horace was roomy and comfortable. His bedroll was folded away in a corner. A low table had been built and was placed in the middle of the timber floor, while a small charcoal-burning grate created a cheerful circle of warmth. The group of friends sat around the table and exchanged details of events over the past few months.
'I don't know what's happened to Atsu,' Halt said as they came to the end of their tale. 'He's probably going frantic down there at the camp.'
'I'll send someone to let him know you made it here. He won't find any of the local Kikori,' Horace said. 'They're all here with us. The ones who ran into you were a patrol we sent out to watch for Arisaka's men,' Horace said. 'But tell me, why didn't you just say you were looking for me – or Shigeru?'
He addressed the question to Alyss, as she was the Nihon-Jan speaker in the group. She shrugged.
'We weren't totally sure who we were dealing with,' she explained. 'We didn't want to mention the Emperor in case they were allied to Arisaka. I guess they felt the same way about us. They seemed to think we were spies. They probably distrusted us because we're foreign.'
Horace nodded thoughtfully. 'I guess so.' He was still a little overwhelmed by the sight of Alyss with short, dark hair.
'And they never mentioned you,' Will put in. 'All we could get out of them was that they were taking us to "Kurokuma". We didn't know if that was a place or a person. What does it mean, by the way?'
'I'm told it's a term of great respect,' Horace said, unwilling to admit that he didn't know.
'Tell us more about the Emperor,' Halt said. 'You're obviously impressed with him.'
'I am,' Horace agreed. 'He's a good man. Kind and honest and incredibly courageous. He's trying to better the lot of the common people here and give them a bigger say in things.'
'Which is, of course, why Arisaka hates him,' Halt said.
'Exactly. Shigeru has the courage not to back down from Arisaka, but unfortunately, he isn't a military leader. He was trained as a Senshi, of course. All members of his class are. But he doesn't have the wider military skills – no idea of tactics or strategy.'
'That was Shukin's role, I take it?' Evanlyn said.
A sad look came over Horace's face. 'Yes. He took care of that side of things. I think his death has shaken the Emperor very badly. He needs help.'
'Which you've been providing,' Selethen said quietly. Horace shrugged.
'I couldn't just leave him to fend for himself. His other advisers are courtiers, not war leaders. And any experienced warriors are too junior to plan a major campaign.' His face brightened. 'Which is why I was so glad to see you lot.'
'Perhaps we should go and meet this Emperor of yours,' Halt said.
Shigeru greeted them courteously, welcoming them to his country and asking for details of their journey. He apologised for the situation they now found themselves in.
'Arisaka has thrown my country into disarray,' he said sadly. 'I'm afraid I can't welcome you with the honours you deserve.'
Halt smiled at the Emperor. 'We don't deserve too much in the way of honours, your excellency.'
'Any friends of Kurokuma,' Shigeru said, indicating Horace with an inclination of his head, 'deserve great honour in this country. Your young friend has served me well, Halto-san.'
On the way to the Emperor's cabin, set at the head of the valley, Horace had quickly explained some of the vagaries of Nihon-Jan pronunciation.
'They seem to find it difficult to finish a word with a hard consonant, like "T",' he said. 'Usually they'll add a vowel after it. So if you don't mind, Halt, I will introduce you as "Halto". Will can be "Wirru".' He paused to explain further. '"L" is not a sound they're totally comfortable with, either.'
'I suppose that'll make me "Arris"?' Alyss said and Horace nodded.