Chapter 26: Discussions before war

Planning before the war

The meeting room was quiet, Homeji Kaiten carefully writing a letter while Hiroyama sat in silence. He looked up for a moment, acknowledging Miyuki with a glance before returning to his writing.

Miyuki bowed low as she entered the room and knelt next Kaiten.  She had met with him many times before, but this time she was to work with him. She knelt in silence as he wrote, just waiting for him to begin.

After several long minutes Kaiten took some ash and scattered it over the page, blowing them across the still wet ink before folding it carefully and placing it into a scroll case. He held it behind him “see that this message makes it to Kyuden <name> quickly.” A soldier from the entourage knelt behind him and took it, and then silently left. He smiled and steepled his fingers “Ah Miyuki-san, thank you for joining me. We have much to talk about tonight.”

Miyuki smiled softly “Thank you Homeji Kaiten-sama, you do me a great honor by giving me your council directly.” She bowed low again.

Kaiten nodded “Your welcome Miyuki-san, but remember your duty here. We are at a very delicate time, there will be a war as a result of this year's actions without a doubt. We must be prepared and gather what information we can for our clan.” He settled back “Now tell me what you know so far about the attacks.”

Miyuki nodded softly “They were ronin, from all over the islands. They were paid in Rensho clan coins and attacked every family except the Rensho. They were all picked warriors and were very well organized in their ambushes.” Kaiten held up a hand as to stop her, Miyuki fell silent.

“They were not all picked warriors, that much is sure. Many of the vassals of the other houses were ceremonial escorts, as opposed to their most skilled warriors. There were differences in the quality of the assaults. If my informants are correct we actually received the worst of the assaults, while the other clans received assaults of varying degrees.”

Miyuki gasped and just stilled “So, the assassination was directed against me?” <<Jump to conclusions

Kaiten nodded again solemnly “Yes, I believe the other attacks were given to keep up appearances and to throw us off the trail. I cannot tell if the Rensho had a hand in this or not, it would be hard to believe they were not complicit in some way but their actions seem honest for now.”

Miyuki paused “Do we know about the men who attacked us?” The young woman made fists as she knelt upon the floor, she was angry. Those men died because of some rival's arrogance, her defenders were her responsibility. She still remembered their faces twisted in pain upon the road to <name.>

Kaiten looked at Miyuki curiously, his expression unchanging. “Yes, we captured a few of them. They each met a merchant from <Rensho island> who gave them gold to travel to the capital. On the road they were met by another who organized them into bands and sent them to different locations, mostly temples or roadside inns. There they were organized by a leader ronin who was very professional, but wore a mask. I am sad to say that their leader died in the attack so he could not be questioned, and his face under the mask was badly burned. The injury looked deliberate.”

“Someone scarred their own samurai to lead the attack?” Miyuki looked aghast, touching her face gently with her fingertips.

“Yes, this was thorough, and that is why we believe it must have been done by a clan. The attack was meticulous and well planned, and a loyal retainer sacrificed himself to achieve victory. We were lucky in their assault, we should have fallen but we were able to survive.”

Miyuki smiled knowingly “Yes lucky, we have alot of luck don't we Kaiten-sama? “

Kaiten just frowned at her and continued “we honestly need more information from the Rensho, though I do not know the best way to approach it for now. The clash with the Senishi was useful as it established their strength in court but we are all still their rivals.”

Miyuki nodded “I think I can handle that, but how do we smoke out the villains who killed our men?”

Kaiten sighed softly and leaned back as well. “We do not have an answer for that yet, just know that our armies are mustering this winter as a result. You and I need to continue to seek clues this court, and hopefully in the end we will be rewarded by the truth.”