Lawrence stood in the main command tent where he thought he would find Knight Commander Arduani. It seemed she was in charge of the military preparations here, which he thought was odd, seeing as how the army at the temple had plenty of captains. Perhaps the emperor simply trusted her most of all.

The failed mage had come to the tent to better understand what was going to happen. He thought a push to the harbor was imminent.

Was he wrong to say nothing of the Akaima Dancing Fan in the cove further north? There were so many people who wanted to leave, and a whole harbor full of ships. At best, the royal family and their retinue could escape on the ship there, otherwise the harbor would be necessary.

I don’t care about the emperor, he thought. He’s not my emperor. I’m not wrong to protect the people I care about first.

That meant Sakura and her family, though he felt guilty, thinking about Princess Noriko. She seemed to be a sweet young woman, but if Lawrence revealed that there was a secret ship the emperor could escape on, he had no doubt that Sakura and her family would be left behind.

He had explained this to Hitomo. The old samurai seemed deeply conflicted, but Lawrence knew that after years of fighting, and having not lifted a blade in ages, the old man was less likely to fall to pure blind loyalty. Kurosawa was not a god emperor to these people, not like the ruler in Kachiiwara who had sent his First Spear here to conquer the country.

“You,” he said, addressing the guard in the tent. “Where’s the purging flame woman?” He wouldn’t have asked so abruptly in such a manor, but his impatience got the better of him.

The guard lifted a quizzical eyebrow.

“The Knight Captain Commander Arduani,” he added. “Where is she?”

The guard shrugged. “I do not know. Move along.”

Lawrence left the tent. He searched the lower levels of the temple where he wouldn’t accidentally happen upon the emperor’s guards and found nothing, but then he went to the lower floors where he was told she had gone. He found weapons for sparring and armor being mended by a craftsman.

He moved to the commander’s armor, lifted the helmet with both hands. Curious, he made to try it on, but realized it wouldn’t fit and sat it back down. He would never wear something like this… with wings!

Golden light was streaming into the basement from the ground level windows. Dust motes filled the room, swirling about. Lawrence looked around, thinking. When he noticed the racks of weapons on the walls, placed there by Sakuraichi’s soldiers, he realized something.

She must be sparring.

“Old man,” he said, addressing the lone craftsman in the room. He was moving some stacks of leather strips. “Is there an area in the grounds where one might go to spar or train?”

The old man nodded, pointed out the window in a general direction. Lawrence nodded and left the makeshift armory.

There was a garden out there. Not the one he had taken Sakura too. His heart beat a little faster just thinking about her now. He found himself smiling, but wiped the look of his face as he walked the path, plants and blossoms on either side of him. Beyond, there was a huge cleft in the mountain with a narrow rope bridge connecting the walkway across. This place was renowned for the geography alone.

The failed mage went across, taking his time. The thing wobbled and shook. It felt very precarious up here, the dark crag in the mountain far below. It was still too early in the morning for the sun to be high enough to shine light down there.

Reaching the other side, he followed the dirt path, crossing unkempt hedges nestled at the base of the mountain peaks that formed a sort of shelter in the opening ahead.

He found the knight commander there, barefoot, wearing a rough spun kimono and a black sash, much like the other woman, a shorter woman with stark white hair.

Haku?

Apparently she was some sort of blade master with magical abilities, though Lawrence had no idea what she could do. He stopped short of interrupting as he watched the two women fight with wooden swords.

Slightly taken aback, he watched the sparring match taking place between the White Feather and the Winged Blade of the Purging Flame.

It was evidently clear which of the women was a better fighter. Lawrence lifted his head, a little more aware when he saw Haku jump back from contact with Arduani’s practice sword. She seemed to glide in the hair, as if she had thrown herself back into a wave of water that was carrying her to shore.

The White Feather, he thought. That’s right.

He had heard the name before, but couldn’t remember where. From what he knew, she seemed to be shrouded in mystery. A lot of what he had heard had been simple gossip. But this. This was real, what he was seeing, and it was very impressive

Arduani was having trouble getting close enough to land a hit on the other woman, and when she was close enough, her blade was parried away, forcing her to move into a defensive posture to avoid being hit herself.

Out of the two women, Arduani was clearly far more aggressive in her style and approach. Her sword movements were broader, her moves more sweeping and with more lunges utilizing the tip of her blade, while Haku fought in a much more defensive style, a style that watched, waited and struck with slashing attacks at extremely close range.

Arduani grunted viciously as she blocked one such attack from the other woman who had come in so close, forcing her to half-sword, a maneuver that required the fighter to grab his own blade.

In a continued fight, he thought Arduani would surely lose. Though her attacks came close on many occasions, forcing the other woman to use her sword to parry or block, or simply jump away, she wasn’t exerting nearly as much effort as the commander.

As it was, fighting without armor was one thing, fighting on the battlefield against a numbered foe was much different, so when considering the two fighting styles, the White Feather was the better blade master, but Arduani was no doubt more suited to the battlefield.

As a knight should be, he thought, especially one sworn to root out and fight evil.

In particular, the Order of the Purging Flame was devoted to destroying magic. Rogue mages, necromancers and vampires, along with an assortment of otherworldly monsters was their regular lot.

No wonder they hate magic.

They were in the thick of it now, practice swords flashing as they danced forward and back. A thought came to Lawrence and he smiled as he walked forward. When he reached the edge of the practice yard, he shouted, “Knight Commander!”

She turned, lurched to see what the emergency was. The other woman’s wooden blade came in and hit her in the ribs. She jerked as the practice sword thwacked against her, but she didn’t show any overt signs of pain, though Lawrence knew she was putting on an act.

She made a face and Lawrence smiled. “I suppose that means you’re dead.”

Arduani was breathing hard, chest heaving as she wiped her face. She tossed her practice sword into the sand and walked toward Lawrence. “What is it?” she asked, tucking a lose strand back behind her ear. The rest of her brown hair had been pulled back tightly and held into a coifed tail.

Seeing as how he wanted something from her, playing that prank on her just now probably wasn’t the wisest decision. He glanced toward the White Feather, back to the Winged Blade.

He had to maneuver through her coming belligerence.

“I just wanted to let you know I’ll be in the back, providing support when we assault the harbor tonight.”

“To the hells with that,” Arduani said, a challenge in her tone. “You’ll be where I decide—where you’ll be most needed, coward.”

“Which is in the rear guard.”

“In the vanguard.”

Lawrence smiled. “Very well.”

“What?” she asked, sounding as if Lawrence had just hurled a surprising insult at her. She glanced back toward Haku, but the other woman shrugged. She came back with a glare. “Oh, I see. Nicely played, mage.” There was an evident scorn on the last word.

He chuckled. “I knew you wouldn’t be forthcoming with information about the emperor’s plans, so I had to improvise.” He didn’t care that her rush to judge him as a coward had made itself evident. He didn’t care what she thought. In fact, she probably believed he’d be one of the first to be killed, should any of them die, though he doubted she was hoping for it, or that she was planning for it.

She wants to get this done, he thought. Besides, she’s not that kind of person.

“We know it’s a trap,” he added. “Why are we walking into it?”

She looked at him, an enduring frustration on her face. “We’re stuck here,” she said. “You know that. Why are you asking?”

“I’m certain there’s other possibilities,” he said. “We could sneak the emperor out.” He nodded to Haku. “She could do it, I have no doubt.” He turned to her. “The way you move, your agility and stealth of movement is very impressive.”

“Thank you, Lawrence” she said, moving up beside Arduani. How she knew his name, he didn’t know, but she had probably heard it from Sakura.

During the night, she had come to his tent to invite him to the emperor’s strategy meeting, but he hadn’t spoken—he had simply been present. A hangar on in the back.

The White Feather had afforded him respect, but neither of them had been properly introduced.

“I’m afraid I only know you by reputation.”

A slight smile. “Haku.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Haku.”

“The same to you,” she said with a nod.

Both of the women were wearing thin kimonos, sweat glistening from their bodies. “Are you sure you two want to get all worked up right before a battle?”

“Sparring eases the mind,” Haku said, “prepares one for the fight.”

“I suppose it does,” he said. “And you?” He nodded to the commander who seemed as taciturn as ever.

“I just needed to get some aggression out,” she said. “After Hans…” They all shared a quiet moment, but Arduani was quick to dispel it. She turned and glanced at Haku. “Apparently I chose the right person.”

“You’re a very impressive fighter, lady knight.” She gave a small bow. This woman was very polite, so soft-spoken and small-boned. It was hard to believe she was a blade master of some renown.

“Well,” Arduani said, “apparently not impressive enough. Your magic… serves you well.”

“It’s not magic.”

The commander was evidentially taken aback. “Is that so?”

“It is,” Haku said. “I would not have asked you to spar with me had I been a magicker. No, my abilities are… of an ancient martial art.”

“You’ll have to tell me how you do that.”

“Of course.” A wicked little smile crossed her face. “But then I would have to make sure you never spoke again.”

They all three laughed.

“On a more serious topic.” the smaller woman said.

Arduani rubbed her ribs covertly as she turned to face the other woman. “Yes?”

“I have concerns about tonight.”

“We all have concerns about tonight,” Lawrence said.

“Indeed,” Haku said. “I wish to voice mine.”

“Very well,” Arduani said. “We should head back, get cleaned up and then discuss.” She turned to Lawrence. “I suppose you can come to.”

Annoying woman.

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Lawrence said. “I was afraid I was interrupting. Are you quite certain?”

Arduani stopped, gave him a withering look. But then she sobered. “Funny mage.”

This woman rankles, he thought, but he had to respect her for letting his antagonisms go without confrontation, as much as they were deserved. She knows how to put things aside for the greater good.

“You’re a good leader.” He hadn’t planned the words—he simply wanted to tell her that.

“Are you mocking me?”

“No,” Lawrence said seriously. “I wouldn’t. Not about something like that.”

“I see.”

A moment passed and Lawrence said, “But you can certainly work on taking compliments.”

Arduani sniffed with a shake of her head.