The Duty of War
Chapter 7
Autumn, 1236 - Toshi Ranbo
Akodo Ryoichi was cremated with the full honours of the Lion Clan. His bones and daisho were taken back to be enshrined in the Hall of Ancestors. And things returned to normal at the siege camp, or tried to.
Karasu did his best to keep moving forward. There was still much to be done before they could begin the siege properly. And this was not helped by the constant rain, which delayed the arrival of the Crab Clan with their siege engines.
One wet evening, Doji Ayumu arrived at his tent. Yet from his tone and demeanour he had not simply come for tea and conversation. But his face was the perfect mask.
“I came this evening to tell you this, because I am responsible,” said Ayumu. “It is your niece, Kakita Arahime-san. She is dead.”
A chill went right through Karasu, he had to carefully put his tea cup down or he would drop it. It seemed as if the entire world around him was frozen and silent.
“How…did this happen?” Karasu asked, his voice deliberately even.
“I received this from the ambassador, Doji Mushari-san,” Ayumu said, pulling out a letter. “He took Arahime away from the Zogeki court, give the warlord a chance to sort out the scandals between her and his grandson.” He paused. “She…was thrown overboard, and with the wild animals…they could not find her body.”
The words felt hollow, meaningless to Karasu. The seemed to flow over his head, but he forced himself to absorb them, accept the facts. Accept this terrible tragedy.
Oh Kyoumi, how will you bear it…
“This…this cannot be coincidence,” Karasu said, his voice rising in anger, his hand forming a fist. “So soon after the scandal.”
Ayumu nodded, giving Karasu the chance to absorb it.
“Harun,” said Karasu. “I need to tell him. Senzo!”
The ronin came into the tent.
“Find my son,” said Karasu. “Bring him here.”
Senzo bowed and departed.
“Ayumu-san, I tell you this now, Arahime’s death is not just an outrage against my family and clan, but shows the utter contempt the Zogeki have for us,” Karasu said, his voice quiet but with the threat of steel. “The Crane will have the full weight of the Emerald Office should you require it.”
Ayumu nodded gravely.
The tent flap opened and Harun entered. He wore the purple and white cloak he had gotten from Unicorn lands, that, with the effects of the wind and rain on his hair and beard, made him look wild and untamed. He bowed to Karasu and Ayumu, though the latter quickly left with a nod to Harun.
Harun looked confused at Ayumu leaving. “Father, is there something wrong?”
Karasu sighed. I cannot be his commanding officer tonight, he thought, tonight, I must be his father.
“Sit down, Harun,” said Karasu, gesturing to the table. He felt tired.
“Is there something wrong?” Harun asked. “Is it…my mother.”
“No,” Karasu said, shaking his head. “It’s…Arahime.”
Harun turned pale.
“She was travelling on board a ship with the Crane ambassador,” Karasu said. “During the night, she fell overboard.”
Harun looked a little confused. “But…Arahime can swim,” he protested. “She couldn’t…”
Karasu shook his head again. “Even if she did manage to make it to shore, there’s no hope,” he said. “She would have been torn to pieces by wild animals. I’m sorry.”
Karasu then watched Harun collapse, he clasped his face with a low moan. Like a young tree, grown a little and able to battle the occasional storm. But not like this.
Karasu gently put a hand his son’s shoulder. It was as if Harun was a child again. He looked up at Karasu, his face begging for it not to be true. But it was staring at them in the face, they had to accept it.
Harun moaned again, he tore at his face, his hair, his clothes. Karasu grabbed his hands, putting his face right up to Harun’s. “Harun, we will find who did this and make them pay. The Crane have sworn.”
“Send me, father,” Harun pleaded through his tears. “Let my blade avenge Arahime’s death. Send me!”
“No,” Karasu said, shaking his head. “I know you want to; I know your heart burns with the rage of vengeance. But that is not your place, my son.”
Harun bowed his head, closing his eyes.
He stayed in Karasu’s tent until he felt he could face his platoon again. When he left, Karasu sat at his desk with his head in his hands.
You threw her away, Ayumu, one of our brightest stars, gone forever…
He put a brush to paper and began composing the hardest letter he had ever written.
To my cousin, Kyoumi,
I write to tell you the most gravest of news…
The blow of Arahime’s death had left a change with Harun. He carried on his duties as Gunso of Kyoujin Platoon, perhaps even with greater diligence, but he kept himself very much apart from the other soldiers. He was less inclined to join them for drinks and stories around the fire. He did not say while, but given this was not questioned Harun surmised that Utaku Kenji told them what happened.
Devotion to his duty kept Harun busy. Kept his thoughts from wandering as they often did when kept unchecked. How he would never see Arahime again. How he missed seeing her before she left by only a few days. And how he never told her how he truly felt about her, how much she had come to mean to him, and never tell her of the future he had planned for them after the war.
The autumn continued, the first chills arrived. More troops from the Great Clans began arriving at the siege camp. The Crab Clan with their massive siege engines, brought with the assistance of the Mantis Clan’s ships. Forces from the Dragon Clan also arrived. And—to the surprise of many—shugenja from the Phoenix Clan, travelling down with the Dragon from their mountains.
And then, finally, the Shogun Utaku Chikara rode in with the remainder of the Imperial Legions. With her were the forces of the Unicorn Clan led by the Khan, Moto Tengri.
The siege camp, already immense, grew bigger. A floating bridge of boats and rafts was constructed up river from Toshi Ranbo, connecting the two halves of the siege camp. After two days, walls had to be constructed and sentries posted to fend off the pot shots taken at people crossing by the Onyx.
And Toshiwara Row, transplanted where it had been back at Kyuden Kyotei, fairly ballooned in size and had several smaller copies that sprang up from who knew where. Harun didn’t go, he did like the quiet when the others went though.
The pace of the camp picked up as well. If there were not in combat near the wall, they were training and were using their horses less and less. They would begin to siege the city proper soon and would have little use for them in the streets of Toshi Rambo.
But in the evenings, when Harun was trying to sleep, his thoughts were harder to escape. He tried to push them away, but they followed him even into his dreams. He would dream of Arahime, smiling and reaching out to him, then pulled away by the crush of bodies, oni and tainted samurai. Harun usually woke suddenly from those dreams, gasping and sweating. This didn’t really get remarked upon by the soldiers in his platoon. Not that they didn’t notice, but Harun wasn’t the only one with such dreams.
In his tent, Karasu sat at his strategy table, expanded with a few more tables to accommodate all that would arrive. The table had the maps, reports as well as the tea and other refreshments that would be needed to conduct what would no doubt be a very long meeting.
The pieces were in place, the great game could finally begin. But it wasn’t a game, this was with people who would die before it was over. They needed to win for their sacrifice to be worth it.
They began to arrive, Karasu recognised them as they did. Representatives from all the Great Clans and in some cases the Champions themselves. But there were a few unusual ones, like Isawa Koyo.
Karasu had known him slightly from that fateful court at Shiro Mirumoto eighteen years before. Koyo had openly defied the directives given to him by the Elemental Council, exposing the actions of the Isawa in the binding of ryu to shield the Phoenix lands from the forces of the Onyx as well as the killing of the Dragon of Fire. The Emperor had declared the Council to be found to face the consequences for their crimes, leading to open rebellion by the Phoenix who stood by the elemental masters. This, combined with the Onyx forces being able to invade as well as Shiba Michio and his Black Hand exacting retribution, led to utter chaos in Phoenix lands that had only calmed down relatively recently.
And Koyo had come, with what people he had and the blessing of the council of sensei that managed day to day affairs for the Phoenix as well, in his capacity as a Jade Magistrate, as the blessing of Jade Champion, Tamori Hoshina
But there was one missing from their number: Akodo Ryoichi. The strategy they were about to carry out was both of theirs, and was the product of many long meetings over many months. For it all to happen without Ryoichi was almost too cruel. But it was also one more reason why they needed to succeed.
"Shall we begin?” Karasu said when they were all seated. Tea and refreshments were distributed, Karasu brought their attention to the large map of Toshi Ranbo itself. Many details had been added from the various intelligence they received.
“Given what we know of Shimekiri, his methods, his mentalities…we know he will expect certain things from us. Which we will give him, and more.” He nodded to the map. “We begin with the weakest point of Toshi Ranbo’s walls…here.” He pointed to Okura sub-district, in the north west portion of the city. “And here.” He indicated where the pleasure gardens used to be nearby, now all destroyed in the Onyx occupation. “The artificial lake in Okura has only made the walls weaker, Shimekiri will be expecting us to hit there with siege engines.”
Hida Tetsuyori, brother to the Crab Clan Champion, nodded. “We have our trebuchets, stone breakers as well as ballistae, fire breathers and the steel of the Crab to do our part.”
Karasu nodded to him and kept going. “To the south, the Lion with Legion forces will assault the main gates which had the main road that led straight through the city. This will be infantry with ladders to mount the walls and battering rams to break the gates.”
Akodo Ashida, Champion of the Lion Clan, nodded with approval. “The forces of the Lion Clan will serve.”
“The Dragon, the Unicorn will maintain the fight outside the walls,” Karasu continued. “No Onyx soldier or creature will know a moment’s rest when we begin. We have the forces to hit them on all sides, and again this is what they will expect.”
There were murmur and nods of agreement.
“Or course, this is all show, distractions while we attack the real weak point of Toshi Ranbo, which is the river itself.” He traced his hand over the path of the Drowned Merchant River that ran right through the city. “We control the river, we control the city, we split it in two and prevent any reinforcement being made from either side…or orders being given.” He looked up at Koyo. “The Phoenix will make the first move here, you say you can take out the bridges?”
Koyo nodded. “The walls, the bridges, and any Onyx along the river will be in the path of the ritual we cast. Any shugenja that can be spared are welcome to add to our numbers.”
“And once this is done, the path has been cleared,” Karasu continued. “The Mantis will float the Crane and Legion troops up river, right into to the middle of the city itself.” Yoritomo Yamako, Champion of the Mantis Clan, nodded in approval. “Are there any questions?”
Mirumoto Konishi, Champion of the Dragon Clan, spoke. “You spoke of Shimekiri, but are we expecting to face the leader of the Onyx, Yuhmi no Oni?”
“Our intelligence indicates this is unlikely,” Karasu said. “This may mean Yuhmi has fled, but it may be too much to hope for.”
Konishi nodded, satisfied with this.
“The plan is sound, daring,” said Utaku Chikara with approval. She and Karasu had agreed earlier to split their command to each side of Toshi Ranbo.
This was our plan, Ryoichi, thought Karasu, let us hope we were right…
Several days later, Harun stood outside his father’s tent. He wore his armour, as Senzo had indicated when he had found Harun that this was a summons from his commander, not an invitation from his father. Harun had been hoping for the latter for a few days, but with the Legion and the forces of the Great Clans preparing to begin the siege proper, his father simply had less time.
And of course, everything had changed since they had gotten the news of Arahime’s death.
Senzo stood silently outside the Champion’s tent, giving no indication to Harun just why he had brought him here. Then the ronin got a signal from within and opened the tent door to let out several Legion Chui that were inside. Harun gave a bow, as he was expected to, but the Chui gave him no more than a brief acknowledgement of Harun while the continued their conversation as they walked out of sight.
“You may go in now,” said Senzo.
Harun entered, sitting in seiza on the flow and bowing not only to his father but the Taisa of the First Legion, Katsura Hisato.
“Kakita Harun-gunso, you may rise,” said Karasu, his tone formal.
Harun rose, looking for some sort of sign of why he was here from either of them. Karasu, of course, gave no indication, his face blank, his on perfect. But Katsura…was that a smile Harun could see on her face?
“Gunso, I have been advised by Katsura-Taisa of your exceptional and dedicated devotion to your duties, which have not only continued in the light of your…personal tragedy, but have increased.”
“I do my duty,” Harun said simply, inkling his head.
“You have proven yourself capable of holding responsibility,” Karasu continued. “Katsura-Taisa has made a recommendation and, in the light of the Legion moving towards beginning the siege on the city, I am granting it.”
Harun looked up. Katsura Hisato smiled at him.
“Kakita Harun, you are hereby granted the rank of Chui with the privileges and responsibilities attached to it,” Hisato said. “You will take command of the newly created Takano Unit.”
Harun bowed low, a little stunned but mostly numb. He thought he should be feeling more about this, good or bad, but instead he felt strangely hollow.
“I will endeavour to serve and prove the trust that you have placed in me,” said Harun.
“I know you will, my son,” said Karasu, unable to keep the pride he felt out of his voice.
But later, when Karasu was alone, he played over the scene in his mind. Harun’s reaction to his promotion worried him a little. His son appeared distant, yet very conscious of the responsibility that he had been given.
Hisato’s recommendation had sat on Karasu’s desk for a few days before he acted on it. He trusted Hisato’s judgment, and they had made officers of others younger than Harun.
But he’s still so young…
He would do well, Karasu knew that. As Hitomi would say Harun had learned to lead from the best.
Chapter 7
Autumn, 1236 - Toshi Ranbo
Akodo Ryoichi was cremated with the full honours of the Lion Clan. His bones and daisho were taken back to be enshrined in the Hall of Ancestors. And things returned to normal at the siege camp, or tried to.
Karasu did his best to keep moving forward. There was still much to be done before they could begin the siege properly. And this was not helped by the constant rain, which delayed the arrival of the Crab Clan with their siege engines.
One wet evening, Doji Ayumu arrived at his tent. Yet from his tone and demeanour he had not simply come for tea and conversation. But his face was the perfect mask.
“I came this evening to tell you this, because I am responsible,” said Ayumu. “It is your niece, Kakita Arahime-san. She is dead.”
A chill went right through Karasu, he had to carefully put his tea cup down or he would drop it. It seemed as if the entire world around him was frozen and silent.
“How…did this happen?” Karasu asked, his voice deliberately even.
“I received this from the ambassador, Doji Mushari-san,” Ayumu said, pulling out a letter. “He took Arahime away from the Zogeki court, give the warlord a chance to sort out the scandals between her and his grandson.” He paused. “She…was thrown overboard, and with the wild animals…they could not find her body.”
The words felt hollow, meaningless to Karasu. The seemed to flow over his head, but he forced himself to absorb them, accept the facts. Accept this terrible tragedy.
Oh Kyoumi, how will you bear it…
“This…this cannot be coincidence,” Karasu said, his voice rising in anger, his hand forming a fist. “So soon after the scandal.”
Ayumu nodded, giving Karasu the chance to absorb it.
“Harun,” said Karasu. “I need to tell him. Senzo!”
The ronin came into the tent.
“Find my son,” said Karasu. “Bring him here.”
Senzo bowed and departed.
“Ayumu-san, I tell you this now, Arahime’s death is not just an outrage against my family and clan, but shows the utter contempt the Zogeki have for us,” Karasu said, his voice quiet but with the threat of steel. “The Crane will have the full weight of the Emerald Office should you require it.”
Ayumu nodded gravely.
The tent flap opened and Harun entered. He wore the purple and white cloak he had gotten from Unicorn lands, that, with the effects of the wind and rain on his hair and beard, made him look wild and untamed. He bowed to Karasu and Ayumu, though the latter quickly left with a nod to Harun.
Harun looked confused at Ayumu leaving. “Father, is there something wrong?”
Karasu sighed. I cannot be his commanding officer tonight, he thought, tonight, I must be his father.
“Sit down, Harun,” said Karasu, gesturing to the table. He felt tired.
“Is there something wrong?” Harun asked. “Is it…my mother.”
“No,” Karasu said, shaking his head. “It’s…Arahime.”
Harun turned pale.
“She was travelling on board a ship with the Crane ambassador,” Karasu said. “During the night, she fell overboard.”
Harun looked a little confused. “But…Arahime can swim,” he protested. “She couldn’t…”
Karasu shook his head again. “Even if she did manage to make it to shore, there’s no hope,” he said. “She would have been torn to pieces by wild animals. I’m sorry.”
Karasu then watched Harun collapse, he clasped his face with a low moan. Like a young tree, grown a little and able to battle the occasional storm. But not like this.
Karasu gently put a hand his son’s shoulder. It was as if Harun was a child again. He looked up at Karasu, his face begging for it not to be true. But it was staring at them in the face, they had to accept it.
Harun moaned again, he tore at his face, his hair, his clothes. Karasu grabbed his hands, putting his face right up to Harun’s. “Harun, we will find who did this and make them pay. The Crane have sworn.”
“Send me, father,” Harun pleaded through his tears. “Let my blade avenge Arahime’s death. Send me!”
“No,” Karasu said, shaking his head. “I know you want to; I know your heart burns with the rage of vengeance. But that is not your place, my son.”
Harun bowed his head, closing his eyes.
He stayed in Karasu’s tent until he felt he could face his platoon again. When he left, Karasu sat at his desk with his head in his hands.
You threw her away, Ayumu, one of our brightest stars, gone forever…
He put a brush to paper and began composing the hardest letter he had ever written.
To my cousin, Kyoumi,
I write to tell you the most gravest of news…
The blow of Arahime’s death had left a change with Harun. He carried on his duties as Gunso of Kyoujin Platoon, perhaps even with greater diligence, but he kept himself very much apart from the other soldiers. He was less inclined to join them for drinks and stories around the fire. He did not say while, but given this was not questioned Harun surmised that Utaku Kenji told them what happened.
Devotion to his duty kept Harun busy. Kept his thoughts from wandering as they often did when kept unchecked. How he would never see Arahime again. How he missed seeing her before she left by only a few days. And how he never told her how he truly felt about her, how much she had come to mean to him, and never tell her of the future he had planned for them after the war.
The autumn continued, the first chills arrived. More troops from the Great Clans began arriving at the siege camp. The Crab Clan with their massive siege engines, brought with the assistance of the Mantis Clan’s ships. Forces from the Dragon Clan also arrived. And—to the surprise of many—shugenja from the Phoenix Clan, travelling down with the Dragon from their mountains.
And then, finally, the Shogun Utaku Chikara rode in with the remainder of the Imperial Legions. With her were the forces of the Unicorn Clan led by the Khan, Moto Tengri.
The siege camp, already immense, grew bigger. A floating bridge of boats and rafts was constructed up river from Toshi Ranbo, connecting the two halves of the siege camp. After two days, walls had to be constructed and sentries posted to fend off the pot shots taken at people crossing by the Onyx.
And Toshiwara Row, transplanted where it had been back at Kyuden Kyotei, fairly ballooned in size and had several smaller copies that sprang up from who knew where. Harun didn’t go, he did like the quiet when the others went though.
The pace of the camp picked up as well. If there were not in combat near the wall, they were training and were using their horses less and less. They would begin to siege the city proper soon and would have little use for them in the streets of Toshi Rambo.
But in the evenings, when Harun was trying to sleep, his thoughts were harder to escape. He tried to push them away, but they followed him even into his dreams. He would dream of Arahime, smiling and reaching out to him, then pulled away by the crush of bodies, oni and tainted samurai. Harun usually woke suddenly from those dreams, gasping and sweating. This didn’t really get remarked upon by the soldiers in his platoon. Not that they didn’t notice, but Harun wasn’t the only one with such dreams.
In his tent, Karasu sat at his strategy table, expanded with a few more tables to accommodate all that would arrive. The table had the maps, reports as well as the tea and other refreshments that would be needed to conduct what would no doubt be a very long meeting.
The pieces were in place, the great game could finally begin. But it wasn’t a game, this was with people who would die before it was over. They needed to win for their sacrifice to be worth it.
They began to arrive, Karasu recognised them as they did. Representatives from all the Great Clans and in some cases the Champions themselves. But there were a few unusual ones, like Isawa Koyo.
Karasu had known him slightly from that fateful court at Shiro Mirumoto eighteen years before. Koyo had openly defied the directives given to him by the Elemental Council, exposing the actions of the Isawa in the binding of ryu to shield the Phoenix lands from the forces of the Onyx as well as the killing of the Dragon of Fire. The Emperor had declared the Council to be found to face the consequences for their crimes, leading to open rebellion by the Phoenix who stood by the elemental masters. This, combined with the Onyx forces being able to invade as well as Shiba Michio and his Black Hand exacting retribution, led to utter chaos in Phoenix lands that had only calmed down relatively recently.
And Koyo had come, with what people he had and the blessing of the council of sensei that managed day to day affairs for the Phoenix as well, in his capacity as a Jade Magistrate, as the blessing of Jade Champion, Tamori Hoshina
But there was one missing from their number: Akodo Ryoichi. The strategy they were about to carry out was both of theirs, and was the product of many long meetings over many months. For it all to happen without Ryoichi was almost too cruel. But it was also one more reason why they needed to succeed.
"Shall we begin?” Karasu said when they were all seated. Tea and refreshments were distributed, Karasu brought their attention to the large map of Toshi Ranbo itself. Many details had been added from the various intelligence they received.
“Given what we know of Shimekiri, his methods, his mentalities…we know he will expect certain things from us. Which we will give him, and more.” He nodded to the map. “We begin with the weakest point of Toshi Ranbo’s walls…here.” He pointed to Okura sub-district, in the north west portion of the city. “And here.” He indicated where the pleasure gardens used to be nearby, now all destroyed in the Onyx occupation. “The artificial lake in Okura has only made the walls weaker, Shimekiri will be expecting us to hit there with siege engines.”
Hida Tetsuyori, brother to the Crab Clan Champion, nodded. “We have our trebuchets, stone breakers as well as ballistae, fire breathers and the steel of the Crab to do our part.”
Karasu nodded to him and kept going. “To the south, the Lion with Legion forces will assault the main gates which had the main road that led straight through the city. This will be infantry with ladders to mount the walls and battering rams to break the gates.”
Akodo Ashida, Champion of the Lion Clan, nodded with approval. “The forces of the Lion Clan will serve.”
“The Dragon, the Unicorn will maintain the fight outside the walls,” Karasu continued. “No Onyx soldier or creature will know a moment’s rest when we begin. We have the forces to hit them on all sides, and again this is what they will expect.”
There were murmur and nods of agreement.
“Or course, this is all show, distractions while we attack the real weak point of Toshi Ranbo, which is the river itself.” He traced his hand over the path of the Drowned Merchant River that ran right through the city. “We control the river, we control the city, we split it in two and prevent any reinforcement being made from either side…or orders being given.” He looked up at Koyo. “The Phoenix will make the first move here, you say you can take out the bridges?”
Koyo nodded. “The walls, the bridges, and any Onyx along the river will be in the path of the ritual we cast. Any shugenja that can be spared are welcome to add to our numbers.”
“And once this is done, the path has been cleared,” Karasu continued. “The Mantis will float the Crane and Legion troops up river, right into to the middle of the city itself.” Yoritomo Yamako, Champion of the Mantis Clan, nodded in approval. “Are there any questions?”
Mirumoto Konishi, Champion of the Dragon Clan, spoke. “You spoke of Shimekiri, but are we expecting to face the leader of the Onyx, Yuhmi no Oni?”
“Our intelligence indicates this is unlikely,” Karasu said. “This may mean Yuhmi has fled, but it may be too much to hope for.”
Konishi nodded, satisfied with this.
“The plan is sound, daring,” said Utaku Chikara with approval. She and Karasu had agreed earlier to split their command to each side of Toshi Ranbo.
This was our plan, Ryoichi, thought Karasu, let us hope we were right…
Several days later, Harun stood outside his father’s tent. He wore his armour, as Senzo had indicated when he had found Harun that this was a summons from his commander, not an invitation from his father. Harun had been hoping for the latter for a few days, but with the Legion and the forces of the Great Clans preparing to begin the siege proper, his father simply had less time.
And of course, everything had changed since they had gotten the news of Arahime’s death.
Senzo stood silently outside the Champion’s tent, giving no indication to Harun just why he had brought him here. Then the ronin got a signal from within and opened the tent door to let out several Legion Chui that were inside. Harun gave a bow, as he was expected to, but the Chui gave him no more than a brief acknowledgement of Harun while the continued their conversation as they walked out of sight.
“You may go in now,” said Senzo.
Harun entered, sitting in seiza on the flow and bowing not only to his father but the Taisa of the First Legion, Katsura Hisato.
“Kakita Harun-gunso, you may rise,” said Karasu, his tone formal.
Harun rose, looking for some sort of sign of why he was here from either of them. Karasu, of course, gave no indication, his face blank, his on perfect. But Katsura…was that a smile Harun could see on her face?
“Gunso, I have been advised by Katsura-Taisa of your exceptional and dedicated devotion to your duties, which have not only continued in the light of your…personal tragedy, but have increased.”
“I do my duty,” Harun said simply, inkling his head.
“You have proven yourself capable of holding responsibility,” Karasu continued. “Katsura-Taisa has made a recommendation and, in the light of the Legion moving towards beginning the siege on the city, I am granting it.”
Harun looked up. Katsura Hisato smiled at him.
“Kakita Harun, you are hereby granted the rank of Chui with the privileges and responsibilities attached to it,” Hisato said. “You will take command of the newly created Takano Unit.”
Harun bowed low, a little stunned but mostly numb. He thought he should be feeling more about this, good or bad, but instead he felt strangely hollow.
“I will endeavour to serve and prove the trust that you have placed in me,” said Harun.
“I know you will, my son,” said Karasu, unable to keep the pride he felt out of his voice.
But later, when Karasu was alone, he played over the scene in his mind. Harun’s reaction to his promotion worried him a little. His son appeared distant, yet very conscious of the responsibility that he had been given.
Hisato’s recommendation had sat on Karasu’s desk for a few days before he acted on it. He trusted Hisato’s judgment, and they had made officers of others younger than Harun.
But he’s still so young…
He would do well, Karasu knew that. As Hitomi would say Harun had learned to lead from the best.