Lawrence was nudged awake, his hand searching for the hilt of a sword that wasn’t there, but when he came to fully, he realized it was only Ishi, nudging him wordlessly.

“What is it, boy? Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“They want to talk to you.” He motioned over his shoulder as if he were simply talking about one of his friends.

Pushing aside the covers, he asked, “Who is ‘they’?”

“Them.”

The failed mage rolled his eyes in frustration. “That helps a lot.” He pushed the tent flap aside to find two guards waiting for him, pikes in hand and wearing the house colors of Sakuraichi, checkered red and yellow diamonds with a waving line running down the center.

“Where do you want to take me?”

“Inside,” one of them said gruffly.

He could take that tone with a sleep deprived Lawrence because he was in the middle of this camp with over a thousand soldiers just like him, but the failed mage stood a good half-head taller than he.

“Why?” he asked, deciding to be cautious. Who would want to speak with him right now, in the middle of the night? “Explain yourselves.”

“Inside,” the other said. “Now. Or we make you.”

“Or I burn your face off!” the mage snapped and his runes came to life, glowing brightly in the darkness, hidden fireballs in his fists.

The two guards flinched.

“What is happening here?”

It was a woman. The guards jumped, turned and bowed to the woman with the white hair and kimono. She even had a katana. Lawrence must have not noticed before since he had been so dazed after taking a forehead bash from the hurg warrior that had tried to make off with the princess.

“We are sorry, Haku-sama!” the first guard who had given orders to Lawrence said. He bowed respectfully. “We were just bringing the mage in now.”

She looked at them a moment. “That’s fine. And the formality is not necessary.”

“Gomen.”

Her eyes met Lawrence and they stared at one another for a good moment. “Are you coming or are we going to stand here?”

The failed mage let his magic energy dissipate. He barely had any. He would need to find some good quality fire later and absorb it. “Where are we going?”

“The council has convened,” she said. “The emperor and the army are trapped here, and the enemy doesn’t want to assault us. We’re at an impasse and eventually the army will run out of food. About what will be done, it’s still being decided, and you’ve been asked to attend the emperor’s strategy meeting.”

It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been asked something like this, he thought. He was famous after all. At least in some circles.

“Who asked that I be there?”

There was a pause between them, then she said, “I did.” He said nothing, but she must have seen the question on his face, because she added. “I saw how you fought that hurg and his accomplice. You’re a good fighter and there are no other mages here to help.”

He would have revealed that Hiun was a mage, but thought better of it. The oni man did seem to like his privacy, but then, his magic was of a noticeably darker shade. What with Knights of the Purging Flame about, he probably didn’t want it to be known that he was even in the camp, assuming he actually was in the camp.

It was common that mages would say they only had so much magic left, despite being energized enough to carry on a bit longer than they let on. Once a mage was fully out of magical stamina, things could become bad, so it was best to curb expectation.

These thoughts came to Lawrence as he wondered how Sakura and Tomiichi had found him. They must have been sent by Hiun.

“Very well,” he said. “Lead on.”