The Honest Scorpion
The Lion stood perfectly still as the remnants of his words echoed off the walls of the Emperor’s court. The Crane stood quietly, trying to hid the surprise – or perhaps the fear – from escaping to his features. A slight giggle may have been heard from the corner where the Crab and Unicorn sat, sipping the sweet Crane sake. The Phoenix and Dragon were as stoic as ever. But in the corner where robes of crimson and black gathered, there was no laughter, no stoic silence; there was only the rustling quiet of a gathering storm.
“I have said it,” the Lion exclaimed, his hand falling to the katana in his obi. “I shall say it again. The Bayushi are nothing but cowards, and if one would dare face me, I would prove it. For this sword – my grandfather’s sword – would slice through him and there would be no blood from the Scorpion’s wound, only water!”
The rustling of silk was the only sound heard in the court. Eyes flashed over and behind a dozen masks. The Lion stood, his sword and his arm ready.
Finally a single figure stepped from the crowded corner. He was tall for a Scorpion, and his face was hidden only by a high collar. On his scarlet and black robes was the mon of the Emerald Champion, and on his sleeve a sash indicating his position as Emerald Magistrate. As he approached, the other Lions whispered his name. He continued to walk across the court, as he heard some Crane whisper, “How lonely; the only honest Scorpion.” He stopped before the Lion precisely at the spot where Matsu Ino’s sword would strike him. Matsu Ino looked straight through him, his eyes burning with fury.
“Ino-san,” the Scorpion said, his voice seemingly a whisper, but heard in every corner of the vast room. “Why do you do this?”
“Out of my way, Yojiro. My claim is not against you.”
The Scorpion shook his head. “But I am a Bayushi, Ino-san. Your claim is against me. More importantly, it is against my family.”
The Lion shook his head. “No. I know. You are Scorpion only by name. Not like the rest.”
Yojiro took a deep breath. “I have known you for many years now, Ino-san. You would not do this without reason.”
Ino smiled slightly under his thick beard. “I have reasons.”
“Tell me,” Yojiro said, his voice as soothing as a geisha’s caress. “Tell me your reasons.”
Silence filled the empty spaces of the room again. Yojiro felt the air around him constrict as the courtiers took a step forward, anticipating the Lion’s answer.
For the first time, Ino’s eyes left the other Scorpions and turned toward the lady half-hidden in shadow, standing beside the empty Emerald Throne. “It is her!” he exclaimed, and Yojiro heard a thousand throats gasp. “She is to blame!”
Yojiro side-stepped, putting himself between Ino and the Throne. “Take care, Ino-san,” he whispered. “You are lucky the Emperor is not hear today. Slandering his most favored counselor….”
“There is no slander when the claim is true!” Ino shouted over Yojiro’s shoulder.
Yojiro took a step forward. “My friend,” he began, but he stopped when Ino’s hand withdrew half his blade from its saya. The Scorpion looked at the steel, then looked at the Lion. Beads of sweat dripped from Ino’s nose. His eyes were wild.
“She is the one who said I planned to usurp my lord! She is the one who spread the lie! Now, I have fallen from my lord’s favor. She is to blame!”
Yojiro whispered softly, “Ino-san, look where you are. Remember your lessons. You are on dangerous ground. There is nothing to be gained here, and much to be lost.”
“My love for my lord will not be compromised!”
“Nor will it be won here, Ino-san. It will only be won another day.”
Ino looked about him. One by one, he saw the startled faces that surrounded him. He saw their eyes, could almost hear their whispers and knew their thoughts. Slowly, he began to realize what had happened.
“A little too much sake,” he whispered.
Yojiro’s brow furled. “What did you say, Ino-san?”
The Lion bowed his head in shame. “Too much sake. I knew it was strong. I heard the whispered words, my head was swimming and my temper flew. I have brought shame to my family.”
Yojiro saw his opening. He stepped forward again, this time close enough to touch the Lion’s sword arm. “Put away your steel. You cannot prove your courage here. That is for another day.”
The Lion nodded. Slowly, Ino slipped the katana back into its resting place. “This very night, I will prove my courage.”
“Tomorrow. Rest now. Come, I know where you need to go.” Yojiro felt the Lion’s fury fade and he led him away from the vast chamber.
As they passed the Emerald Throne, Yojiro’s gaze fell on the shadows and saw her smile. He nodded.
Yes, my lady. I know what I must do.
“How lonely it must be fore you,” Ino said, regaining his train of thought.
Yojiro shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“To be the only honest Scorpion.”
Yojiro shook his head again. “Lonely is not the correct word, my friend.”
-------------
Ino’s dreams kept his eyes heavy. The sweet smell and taste of sake kept them warm and wet. His body was floating in a great warm, cleansing bath and he never desired to wake.
But there was the scream.
And then the shouting.
The sounds of pounding feet.
He knew he had to wake, but his hands were so heavy. And his eyes could not focus. His mouth was dry and tasted like rotten eggs. His legs felt as if they were made of seaweed.
He finally opened his eyes and when they found focus, he saw what had caused the scream.
A door opened, flooding light into his field of vision, blinding and burning his eyes.
A voice then, calling his name. Suddenly, his mind snapped awake and he saw…
----------------
Yojiro felt his yoriki flow past him into the small room. He made certain – as did they 0 to avoid the pool of blood that had crept out across the floor. Ino’s face was flushed with surprise.
Ino looked at his hands, covered in blood.
He looked at his kimono, covered in blood.
He looked at his lord, covered in blood.
And there, sticking from the neck of the dead daimyo was Matsu Ino’s bloody wakizashi.
“Bring him here,” Yojiro said as Ino was lifted to his feet, his eyes filling with tears. The Lion was thrown down at the Scorpion’s feet as the magistrate knelt before him.
“Ino, my friend. This does not look good for you. You are sobbing like a little girl.”
The Lion could do nothing but look up through his tears at Yojiro. “Whuh-whuh…”
“Now you are stammering like a virgin on her wedding night.”
The Lion looked back at the body of his lord and a new wave of despair flooded over him.
Yojiro sighed and spoke again, sounding as if he were scolding his favorite nephew. “Ino-san, do not make this more difficult than it already is for me.”
A sudden shift in emotion came across the Lion, but his new -found anger wasn’t enough to help him locate his lost speech.
“You know my duty, Ino-san. I am sworn to uphold the Emperor’s Law. I am a magistrate of the Emerald Champion, and I have a duty the office I hold.
The Lion was speechless. All he could do was stare coldly at the Scorpion. He could not even spit for the thick dryness of his mouth.
“Now tell me, Ino-san, do you recall any of your activities last evening?”
The Lion remained silent.
“Ino-san, you are a Lion. I know you understand the law. Silence equals consent in the Emerald Champion’s eyes.”
Ino maintained his silence, but there was a moment of hesitation in his eyes. He tried to hide it, but Yojiro saw it. He was a Scorpion after all, trained from birth to see the weakness of others.
“Ino-san, this is what I am going to do. I am going to tell you what I know. Then we are going to talk about what you know. Do you understand?”
The Lion’s nod was as solemn as a prayer.
“Very good. Here is what I know. Last evening, your wrathful display in the court forced me to remove you from the Throne room. You and I talked as we walked, and agreed we should speak of the subject in more comfortable surroundings. We stopped by a tea house – your favorite, if I recall correctly – and we drank tea and ate and enjoyed the company we found therein. You left with your consort and I left with mine. That was the last I saw of you…until a few moments ago.
“I do know that during the meal, you spoke harshly of your lord. You said that you had been passed up for promotion on more than one occasion, and that your lord was not judging you fairly. I assumed the sake was speaking for you, but now…” Yojiro waved a hand at the bloody mess behind them. “If I had known your lord was here, in the same tea house as us, I would have recommended another.”
Yojiro leaned in close to the Lion. “Tell me, Ino-san. Tell me why you chose this tea house over any other.” The spite in the Lion’s eyes bore into Yojiro, but the questions continued. “We walked a long while to get here. We passed perhaps a dozen other tea houses. You chose this one specifically. Why?”
The Lion said nothing. Yojiro resumed his neutral stance.
“Very well. Let us continue. A scream awoke me from my sleep only moments ago. I took up my sword, charged down the hall, told my consort to call for the local magistrate and his yoriki. When we arrived, we found you here in this room.”
Yojiro stopped. He let his words fall about the small room. He let the Lion’s anticipation build just a little more, then asked the question.
“Ino-san, can you honestly tell me that you remember not killing your lord?”
The Lion frowned, his eyes confused. “Whuh…”
“Do you remember not killing your lord?” Yojiro asked, his voice bridging on demanding.
“I do not…”
“Do you know for a fact that you did not kill your lord? It is a simple question. Answer it ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”
The Lion stuttered. “I – I do not…”
“Yes or no, Ino-san. Yes or no!”
Ino shook his head. “I do not know…”
Yojiro leaned in closer. “So you cannot tell me that you did not do it?”
“I did not kill my lord!” the Lion shouted.
“But you do not know that, do you?”
“Yes! Yes I do. I did not kill my lord!”
“You do not know that, do you? You cannot honestly tell me that, can you?”
Ino’s head bobbed up and down, his tears starting anew. “YES! Yes I can! I know I did not do it.”
“Do you remember doing it?”
“No.” Ino said. “I do not remember doing it.”
“Doing what, Ino-san?”
“I do not remember killing my…” Ino stopped. Yojiro smiled.
“I am sorry you do not remember performing such an act, Ino-san. A man should carry the weight of his crime to his ancestors.”
“No, wait!”
Yojiro ignored him. He turned to the yoriki. “Take him away. He will await Lord Toturi’s permission, granting him the right to seppuku.”
The yoriki hauled the Lion to his feet and dragged him away. Yojiro sat quietly as he heard the Lion screaming his name. Just as Ino’s voice began to fade in the distance, he heard the Lion curse his family and his name.
He had heard worse.
---------------
It was as if the shadows were tailored for her. Like a web, they clung to her every curve, hiding what needed to be hidden, intensifying the beauty that was already there. When she moved, they moved with her, clinging with a dark embrace.
When she moved, her kimono revealed a little, but only as much as she wanted. She moved across the room and Yojiro felt his eyes wander from the floor. She is my lord’s wife, his mind whispered, but even that thought did not help him.
With her back to him she whispered, “Your eyes explore for your hands, Yojiro.”
His gaze shot back down to the floor. He heard her turn and walk toward him, her voice on the edge of a soft laugh. “I am not unused to such an occurrence.”
Yojiro said nothing, but watched her kneel on the raised dais before him. “My husband is not here, Yojiro. Had he been, he would have killed the Lion outright.”
“I did what I could, Madame,” Yojiro said, bowing his forehead to the floor.
“Matsu Ino paid highly for his insolence.”
“Not enough, Madame,” Yojiro said.
The lady laughed. “Were it any other, Yojiro, I would say he was wearing a mask of false humility.” He heard her kimono rustle in the dim light. “But it is you, the only honest Scorpion.”
“A title the Lions have bestowed upon me, Madame.”
“You have earned it.” From the corner of his eye, Yojiro saw a small white box drawn from the sleeve of her kimono.
“Come here and take your reward…my brave champion.”
Yojiro bowed low again, rose to his feet and walked forward, keeping his gaze on the floor. In her hands she held a small, white box of folded paper. Yojiro bowed again and opened his hads. She put the box in his palms, her fingertips running along his skin as she withdrew them.
“My gift,” she whispered.
Yojiro’s lips parted, but she interrupted. “Do not bother with etiquette, Yojiro. You know my heart.”
He hesitated, bowed again. “As you wish,” he said.
He began to back away, but he heard her say, “Open it.”
Yojiro swallowed. “Madame, it is not…”
Her sweet voice suddenly turned as cold as spring water. “I dictate what is and is not proper, samurai.” He paused, and her voice was soft again. “Open it.”
Yojiro did not disobey twice. He unfolded the paper, still standing before her. The folds fell away revealing rice paper…and a small silver tool he did not recognize.
“BecThey are called ‘scissors,’ Yojiro, a tool the Unicorns use for cutting. They were a gift I received from…an admirer.”
He bowed. “Thank you, my lady. This is a fine….”
“That is not the gift, Yojiro.” She smiled and rose to her feet. “That is the key to your gift.”
Yojiro’s mind began to race. He felt his skin grow warm under his kimono and he wondered if she could see.
Of course she can see you sweat, you fool! He cursed himself. He tried to gather his composure and retreated a step. She took a step forward.
“Here is my gift for avenging my stained honor.” Yojiro took another step back and she took another step forward. “For doing my husband’s duty.”
Yojiro watched her hands fall to the obi that was so delicately wrapped about her waist. Her fingers twisted about it, untying the string that kept it in place.
“Madame, I do not think…”
“Keep quiet, samurai. I will tell you when to speak.” She took another step forward, and he another step back. “Stand still, Yojiro,” she said, her voice as stern as he had ever heard it. “I have something I want you to do.”
Yojiro stopped, his heart pounding in his chest.
She is your lord’s wife, his mind told him over and over again. She is your lord’s wife.
She stepped up close and he felt the silk of her kimono rustle against his own. His jaw was trembling, but he could not summon the will to stop it.
He suddenly realized her obi was untied. Her kimono slid slightly off her shoulders. He blinked and she said, “No. Keep your eyes open. It will be dangerous if you close them.”
She raised her hands up to his gaze and twisted about her fingers was the beaded string of her obi. “This will make a fine knot,” she whispered through her smile.
“Madame, I…”
“Hush, Yojiro. Just do what I tell you to do. You know the price for disobedience.” Her fingers pulled the string tight and he swore he felt his heart skip a beat.
“But there is also a price for loyalty, is there not?”
Yojiro nodded.
“Good,” she whispered. “Nothing is more valuable to our clan than loyalty, Yojiro.” She took the string and twisted it into her hair…
“Let the Lions have their honor. It only makes them predictable.”
Yojiro watched the string and the hair begin to braid under her quick fingers…
“And let the Phoenix have their knowledge. A book cannot teach you pain.”
The black and the red folding together…
“The Crane are blinded by their pride.”
Making a pattern….
“The Crab think strength is the key, but it takes more than strength to swim.”
No, not a pattern, but a web…
“A Dragon’s self-contradictory riddles only serve to confuse him.”
A delicate web of darkness and blood…
“And the Unicorn…” She laughed. “Who cares what the Unicorn think?” She stepped back to him, the long braid dancing between her fingers. “All they have are wonderful toys.”
Yojiro blinked., as if he were suddenly released from a spell. He looked down at the scissors in his hand and back up again.
“Take what you deserve, Yojiro. This is my gift. My gift for my champion.”
It took him many moments to do it, but when he finally gathered the courage, he put the scissors to her braid. Then, in a single moment of daring that he would never understand, he looked into her eyes as he depressed the blades.
“I have said it,” the Lion exclaimed, his hand falling to the katana in his obi. “I shall say it again. The Bayushi are nothing but cowards, and if one would dare face me, I would prove it. For this sword – my grandfather’s sword – would slice through him and there would be no blood from the Scorpion’s wound, only water!”
The rustling of silk was the only sound heard in the court. Eyes flashed over and behind a dozen masks. The Lion stood, his sword and his arm ready.
Finally a single figure stepped from the crowded corner. He was tall for a Scorpion, and his face was hidden only by a high collar. On his scarlet and black robes was the mon of the Emerald Champion, and on his sleeve a sash indicating his position as Emerald Magistrate. As he approached, the other Lions whispered his name. He continued to walk across the court, as he heard some Crane whisper, “How lonely; the only honest Scorpion.” He stopped before the Lion precisely at the spot where Matsu Ino’s sword would strike him. Matsu Ino looked straight through him, his eyes burning with fury.
“Ino-san,” the Scorpion said, his voice seemingly a whisper, but heard in every corner of the vast room. “Why do you do this?”
“Out of my way, Yojiro. My claim is not against you.”
The Scorpion shook his head. “But I am a Bayushi, Ino-san. Your claim is against me. More importantly, it is against my family.”
The Lion shook his head. “No. I know. You are Scorpion only by name. Not like the rest.”
Yojiro took a deep breath. “I have known you for many years now, Ino-san. You would not do this without reason.”
Ino smiled slightly under his thick beard. “I have reasons.”
“Tell me,” Yojiro said, his voice as soothing as a geisha’s caress. “Tell me your reasons.”
Silence filled the empty spaces of the room again. Yojiro felt the air around him constrict as the courtiers took a step forward, anticipating the Lion’s answer.
For the first time, Ino’s eyes left the other Scorpions and turned toward the lady half-hidden in shadow, standing beside the empty Emerald Throne. “It is her!” he exclaimed, and Yojiro heard a thousand throats gasp. “She is to blame!”
Yojiro side-stepped, putting himself between Ino and the Throne. “Take care, Ino-san,” he whispered. “You are lucky the Emperor is not hear today. Slandering his most favored counselor….”
“There is no slander when the claim is true!” Ino shouted over Yojiro’s shoulder.
Yojiro took a step forward. “My friend,” he began, but he stopped when Ino’s hand withdrew half his blade from its saya. The Scorpion looked at the steel, then looked at the Lion. Beads of sweat dripped from Ino’s nose. His eyes were wild.
“She is the one who said I planned to usurp my lord! She is the one who spread the lie! Now, I have fallen from my lord’s favor. She is to blame!”
Yojiro whispered softly, “Ino-san, look where you are. Remember your lessons. You are on dangerous ground. There is nothing to be gained here, and much to be lost.”
“My love for my lord will not be compromised!”
“Nor will it be won here, Ino-san. It will only be won another day.”
Ino looked about him. One by one, he saw the startled faces that surrounded him. He saw their eyes, could almost hear their whispers and knew their thoughts. Slowly, he began to realize what had happened.
“A little too much sake,” he whispered.
Yojiro’s brow furled. “What did you say, Ino-san?”
The Lion bowed his head in shame. “Too much sake. I knew it was strong. I heard the whispered words, my head was swimming and my temper flew. I have brought shame to my family.”
Yojiro saw his opening. He stepped forward again, this time close enough to touch the Lion’s sword arm. “Put away your steel. You cannot prove your courage here. That is for another day.”
The Lion nodded. Slowly, Ino slipped the katana back into its resting place. “This very night, I will prove my courage.”
“Tomorrow. Rest now. Come, I know where you need to go.” Yojiro felt the Lion’s fury fade and he led him away from the vast chamber.
As they passed the Emerald Throne, Yojiro’s gaze fell on the shadows and saw her smile. He nodded.
Yes, my lady. I know what I must do.
“How lonely it must be fore you,” Ino said, regaining his train of thought.
Yojiro shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“To be the only honest Scorpion.”
Yojiro shook his head again. “Lonely is not the correct word, my friend.”
-------------
Ino’s dreams kept his eyes heavy. The sweet smell and taste of sake kept them warm and wet. His body was floating in a great warm, cleansing bath and he never desired to wake.
But there was the scream.
And then the shouting.
The sounds of pounding feet.
He knew he had to wake, but his hands were so heavy. And his eyes could not focus. His mouth was dry and tasted like rotten eggs. His legs felt as if they were made of seaweed.
He finally opened his eyes and when they found focus, he saw what had caused the scream.
A door opened, flooding light into his field of vision, blinding and burning his eyes.
A voice then, calling his name. Suddenly, his mind snapped awake and he saw…
----------------
Yojiro felt his yoriki flow past him into the small room. He made certain – as did they 0 to avoid the pool of blood that had crept out across the floor. Ino’s face was flushed with surprise.
Ino looked at his hands, covered in blood.
He looked at his kimono, covered in blood.
He looked at his lord, covered in blood.
And there, sticking from the neck of the dead daimyo was Matsu Ino’s bloody wakizashi.
“Bring him here,” Yojiro said as Ino was lifted to his feet, his eyes filling with tears. The Lion was thrown down at the Scorpion’s feet as the magistrate knelt before him.
“Ino, my friend. This does not look good for you. You are sobbing like a little girl.”
The Lion could do nothing but look up through his tears at Yojiro. “Whuh-whuh…”
“Now you are stammering like a virgin on her wedding night.”
The Lion looked back at the body of his lord and a new wave of despair flooded over him.
Yojiro sighed and spoke again, sounding as if he were scolding his favorite nephew. “Ino-san, do not make this more difficult than it already is for me.”
A sudden shift in emotion came across the Lion, but his new -found anger wasn’t enough to help him locate his lost speech.
“You know my duty, Ino-san. I am sworn to uphold the Emperor’s Law. I am a magistrate of the Emerald Champion, and I have a duty the office I hold.
The Lion was speechless. All he could do was stare coldly at the Scorpion. He could not even spit for the thick dryness of his mouth.
“Now tell me, Ino-san, do you recall any of your activities last evening?”
The Lion remained silent.
“Ino-san, you are a Lion. I know you understand the law. Silence equals consent in the Emerald Champion’s eyes.”
Ino maintained his silence, but there was a moment of hesitation in his eyes. He tried to hide it, but Yojiro saw it. He was a Scorpion after all, trained from birth to see the weakness of others.
“Ino-san, this is what I am going to do. I am going to tell you what I know. Then we are going to talk about what you know. Do you understand?”
The Lion’s nod was as solemn as a prayer.
“Very good. Here is what I know. Last evening, your wrathful display in the court forced me to remove you from the Throne room. You and I talked as we walked, and agreed we should speak of the subject in more comfortable surroundings. We stopped by a tea house – your favorite, if I recall correctly – and we drank tea and ate and enjoyed the company we found therein. You left with your consort and I left with mine. That was the last I saw of you…until a few moments ago.
“I do know that during the meal, you spoke harshly of your lord. You said that you had been passed up for promotion on more than one occasion, and that your lord was not judging you fairly. I assumed the sake was speaking for you, but now…” Yojiro waved a hand at the bloody mess behind them. “If I had known your lord was here, in the same tea house as us, I would have recommended another.”
Yojiro leaned in close to the Lion. “Tell me, Ino-san. Tell me why you chose this tea house over any other.” The spite in the Lion’s eyes bore into Yojiro, but the questions continued. “We walked a long while to get here. We passed perhaps a dozen other tea houses. You chose this one specifically. Why?”
The Lion said nothing. Yojiro resumed his neutral stance.
“Very well. Let us continue. A scream awoke me from my sleep only moments ago. I took up my sword, charged down the hall, told my consort to call for the local magistrate and his yoriki. When we arrived, we found you here in this room.”
Yojiro stopped. He let his words fall about the small room. He let the Lion’s anticipation build just a little more, then asked the question.
“Ino-san, can you honestly tell me that you remember not killing your lord?”
The Lion frowned, his eyes confused. “Whuh…”
“Do you remember not killing your lord?” Yojiro asked, his voice bridging on demanding.
“I do not…”
“Do you know for a fact that you did not kill your lord? It is a simple question. Answer it ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”
The Lion stuttered. “I – I do not…”
“Yes or no, Ino-san. Yes or no!”
Ino shook his head. “I do not know…”
Yojiro leaned in closer. “So you cannot tell me that you did not do it?”
“I did not kill my lord!” the Lion shouted.
“But you do not know that, do you?”
“Yes! Yes I do. I did not kill my lord!”
“You do not know that, do you? You cannot honestly tell me that, can you?”
Ino’s head bobbed up and down, his tears starting anew. “YES! Yes I can! I know I did not do it.”
“Do you remember doing it?”
“No.” Ino said. “I do not remember doing it.”
“Doing what, Ino-san?”
“I do not remember killing my…” Ino stopped. Yojiro smiled.
“I am sorry you do not remember performing such an act, Ino-san. A man should carry the weight of his crime to his ancestors.”
“No, wait!”
Yojiro ignored him. He turned to the yoriki. “Take him away. He will await Lord Toturi’s permission, granting him the right to seppuku.”
The yoriki hauled the Lion to his feet and dragged him away. Yojiro sat quietly as he heard the Lion screaming his name. Just as Ino’s voice began to fade in the distance, he heard the Lion curse his family and his name.
He had heard worse.
---------------
It was as if the shadows were tailored for her. Like a web, they clung to her every curve, hiding what needed to be hidden, intensifying the beauty that was already there. When she moved, they moved with her, clinging with a dark embrace.
When she moved, her kimono revealed a little, but only as much as she wanted. She moved across the room and Yojiro felt his eyes wander from the floor. She is my lord’s wife, his mind whispered, but even that thought did not help him.
With her back to him she whispered, “Your eyes explore for your hands, Yojiro.”
His gaze shot back down to the floor. He heard her turn and walk toward him, her voice on the edge of a soft laugh. “I am not unused to such an occurrence.”
Yojiro said nothing, but watched her kneel on the raised dais before him. “My husband is not here, Yojiro. Had he been, he would have killed the Lion outright.”
“I did what I could, Madame,” Yojiro said, bowing his forehead to the floor.
“Matsu Ino paid highly for his insolence.”
“Not enough, Madame,” Yojiro said.
The lady laughed. “Were it any other, Yojiro, I would say he was wearing a mask of false humility.” He heard her kimono rustle in the dim light. “But it is you, the only honest Scorpion.”
“A title the Lions have bestowed upon me, Madame.”
“You have earned it.” From the corner of his eye, Yojiro saw a small white box drawn from the sleeve of her kimono.
“Come here and take your reward…my brave champion.”
Yojiro bowed low again, rose to his feet and walked forward, keeping his gaze on the floor. In her hands she held a small, white box of folded paper. Yojiro bowed again and opened his hads. She put the box in his palms, her fingertips running along his skin as she withdrew them.
“My gift,” she whispered.
Yojiro’s lips parted, but she interrupted. “Do not bother with etiquette, Yojiro. You know my heart.”
He hesitated, bowed again. “As you wish,” he said.
He began to back away, but he heard her say, “Open it.”
Yojiro swallowed. “Madame, it is not…”
Her sweet voice suddenly turned as cold as spring water. “I dictate what is and is not proper, samurai.” He paused, and her voice was soft again. “Open it.”
Yojiro did not disobey twice. He unfolded the paper, still standing before her. The folds fell away revealing rice paper…and a small silver tool he did not recognize.
“BecThey are called ‘scissors,’ Yojiro, a tool the Unicorns use for cutting. They were a gift I received from…an admirer.”
He bowed. “Thank you, my lady. This is a fine….”
“That is not the gift, Yojiro.” She smiled and rose to her feet. “That is the key to your gift.”
Yojiro’s mind began to race. He felt his skin grow warm under his kimono and he wondered if she could see.
Of course she can see you sweat, you fool! He cursed himself. He tried to gather his composure and retreated a step. She took a step forward.
“Here is my gift for avenging my stained honor.” Yojiro took another step back and she took another step forward. “For doing my husband’s duty.”
Yojiro watched her hands fall to the obi that was so delicately wrapped about her waist. Her fingers twisted about it, untying the string that kept it in place.
“Madame, I do not think…”
“Keep quiet, samurai. I will tell you when to speak.” She took another step forward, and he another step back. “Stand still, Yojiro,” she said, her voice as stern as he had ever heard it. “I have something I want you to do.”
Yojiro stopped, his heart pounding in his chest.
She is your lord’s wife, his mind told him over and over again. She is your lord’s wife.
She stepped up close and he felt the silk of her kimono rustle against his own. His jaw was trembling, but he could not summon the will to stop it.
He suddenly realized her obi was untied. Her kimono slid slightly off her shoulders. He blinked and she said, “No. Keep your eyes open. It will be dangerous if you close them.”
She raised her hands up to his gaze and twisted about her fingers was the beaded string of her obi. “This will make a fine knot,” she whispered through her smile.
“Madame, I…”
“Hush, Yojiro. Just do what I tell you to do. You know the price for disobedience.” Her fingers pulled the string tight and he swore he felt his heart skip a beat.
“But there is also a price for loyalty, is there not?”
Yojiro nodded.
“Good,” she whispered. “Nothing is more valuable to our clan than loyalty, Yojiro.” She took the string and twisted it into her hair…
“Let the Lions have their honor. It only makes them predictable.”
Yojiro watched the string and the hair begin to braid under her quick fingers…
“And let the Phoenix have their knowledge. A book cannot teach you pain.”
The black and the red folding together…
“The Crane are blinded by their pride.”
Making a pattern….
“The Crab think strength is the key, but it takes more than strength to swim.”
No, not a pattern, but a web…
“A Dragon’s self-contradictory riddles only serve to confuse him.”
A delicate web of darkness and blood…
“And the Unicorn…” She laughed. “Who cares what the Unicorn think?” She stepped back to him, the long braid dancing between her fingers. “All they have are wonderful toys.”
Yojiro blinked., as if he were suddenly released from a spell. He looked down at the scissors in his hand and back up again.
“Take what you deserve, Yojiro. This is my gift. My gift for my champion.”
It took him many moments to do it, but when he finally gathered the courage, he put the scissors to her braid. Then, in a single moment of daring that he would never understand, he looked into her eyes as he depressed the blades.