Laura Rowland - The Dragon King's Palace

Reiko didn’t pause to wonder who the invaders were or worry about the danger of exiting from the balcony. She climbed over the rail, gripped the sword, then jumped. A short drop through a rush of darkness, and she crashed down into a bush. Rough, thorny branches enmeshed her. She tore herself loose. From above her came the guards’ exclamations in the palace: They’d found the Dragon King. She drew his sword, let its scabbard fall, and sped across the garden. By now, Ota must have figured out what had happened to his master; he’d have discovered she was missing. He knew where she would go. She had to get there before he did.

The shouts and gunfire continued as Reiko hurried around the castle buildings. She heard rhythmic splashes from the lake, saw torchlights moving through the grounds. At last she located the familiar open passageway. She raced up it, into the building, and groped along the dim corridor. Her hand found the door. Panting, she yanked out the metal beam that secured the latches. She flung it aside and threw open the door.

Inside the room, Lady Yanagisawa, Keisho-in, and Midori sat huddled together, outlined by moonlight that streamed through the window. They exclaimed at the sight of her-bruised, bloody, disheveled, holding the sword, and alone.

“Reiko-san!” cried Midori. “What happened?”

“There’s no time to explain,” Reiko said. “We must run!”

Reiko hurried through the castle grounds, carrying the sword and supporting Midori, who clutched the squalling baby as she toiled beside Reiko. Behind them, Lady Yanagisawa towed Keisho-in along. Lights moved in the gardens, flashed on ruins, and streaked across Reiko’s vision. The night reverberated with a tumult of arrows whizzing, men crashing through woods, and spurts of gunfire. The women scrambled out from the castle buildings. Ahead, past a crumbled wall, Reiko saw the lake glittering through a stand of trees, and the dark shape of the dock. But as she hastened her friends toward the boats, footsteps thundered from their right.

“Hey, you! Stop!” Ota’s voice ordered.

Aghast, Reiko saw Ota and another samurai speeding at her. Midori screamed. Reiko heard Lady Yanagisawa cry, “No!” She turned to see Keisho-in limping back toward the castle, and Lady Yanagisawa chasing her. Both women vanished into the grounds. Horrified to see her escape thwarted and panic disperse her friends, Reiko ran, tugging Midori, after the other two women. They wove around trees whose branches snagged them, and they tripped on weed-covered rubble. Reiko heard cries from Lady Yanagisawa and Keisho-in, but she couldn’t see them in the darkness. She also heard Ota and his partner trampling debris and panting in close pursuit.

“Stay here and hide,” she whispered to Midori. She knew she was the one Ota most wanted to catch, and if they separated, maybe he would spare Midori.

“No, don’t leave me!” Midori cried.

But Reiko shook her friend loose and sped onward. The men followed her, as she’d hoped. She squeezed through shrubbery, darted around buildings. With her small size and quick agility, she gained distance from her pursuers. She turned a corner-and crashed smack into someone. Alarmed shrieks burst from them both. Then she recognized Lady Yanagisawa.

“Reiko-san, I’m so glad I found you!” Lady Yanagisawa exclaimed. “But I’ve lost Lady Keisho-in.”

As Reiko felt her heart sink at the thought of the shogun’s mother wandering alone, she heard the men coming. She and Lady Yanagisawa raced hand in hand through the night. Out of the castle the men chased them, into the forest. Fatigue dragged at Reiko’s legs. She grew breathless from exertion. Lady Yanagisawa moaned, clutching a cramp in her side. They staggered out from the forest. Before them, the high, ruined tower of the keep rose from its surrounding trees. The jagged segment of wall on the top story pointed at the moon.

“I can’t run anymore.” Dropping Reiko’s hand, Lady Yanagisawa wheezed to a standstill.

“Yes, you can,” Reiko urged. She heard crunching leaves and snapping branches: Their pursuers were coming. “Hurry!”

A mewl of terror issued from Lady Yanagisawa. She faltered up the steps to the keep.

“No!” Reiko cried. “We mustn’t let them trap us inside!”

Such panic gripped Lady Yanagisawa that rational thought fled her. All she wanted was shelter where she could rest and hide from the enemy. She stumbled through the portals of the keep. The dark, damp-smelling room enclosed her. She saw Reiko running toward her up the steps.

“Where are you?” Reiko called, her voice fraught with urgency. She rushed into the room, and the darkness erased her from Lady Yanagisawa’s view. “Come out!”

Though Lady Yanagisawa was thankful that Reiko hadn’t abandoned her, she didn’t answer. If she went, Reiko would make her run until those men caught and killed them. She ducked behind the old cannon.

Ota’s partner staggered, panting, in through the doorway. Lady Yanagisawa glimpsed a swift motion behind him, and a flash of moonlight on steel. The samurai yowled. There was a loud thud as he fell on the floor. Lady Yanagisawa realized that Reiko had cut him down.

“We have to go now,” Reiko hissed. “Ota is coming. He knows where we are. Quick, before he gets here!”

Lady Yanagisawa didn’t want to leave her shelter. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she saw a shaft of faint light beaming down through the ceiling. Into it rose the stairway. Lady Yanagisawa clambered up the rickety slats. Through the second level she ascended. Vermin skittered and nesting doves cooed, disturbed by her noise. Reaching the third story, she heard Reiko’s rapid footsteps on the stairs, and Ota’s pounding after them. The racket echoed through the keep. Lady Yanagisawa climbed faster. She saw the moon, round and radiant, framed by the square hole above her. She flung herself up the last steps, out the hole, and onto the summit of the tower.

Its uppermost story was exposed to the sky and wind, and littered with broken roof tiles, flaked plaster, and charred, splintered timbers. From the crumbling edges of the floor, the tower’s lower portion extended in a steep drop. On three sides spread the forest’s treetops; below the fourth side, the lake shimmered. The height dizzied Lady Yanagisawa. She crouched within the corner of the remaining wall.

Reiko burst up through the hole. Ota followed, grabbing at Reiko’s skirts. She ran across the rubble-strewn floor and teetered at the brink. Pivoting, she raised her sword at Ota.

He laughed and said, “If you’d rather die than surrender, that’s fine with me.” He drew his sword.

Reality penetrated Lady Yanagisawa’s dazed fright. She’d brought Reiko up here; now Ota was going to kill Reiko. Horrified by the prospect of losing her only friend, Lady Yanagisawa watched Reiko swing her weapon. Ota parried. The clanging impact of their blades knocked Reiko perilously close to the tower’s edge. They whirled, lunged, and slashed as they skirted the perimeter. The moon illuminated Reiko’s determined, terrified face in flashes as she spun. Although she fought with skill and courage, Ota managed many more strikes than she did. He kept her busy parrying and dodging. He was using his greater strength to tire her out. Lady Yanagisawa realized that there was nobody to help Reiko except herself.

She hefted a wooden beam in both hands. When Ota came near her, she swung with all her might. The beam hit the backs of his knees. They buckled under him. He staggered and pitched forward with a grunt of surprise. As he flung out his hands to break his fall, Reiko slashed her blade across his throat. A horrendous, liquid squeal came from him. Blood spurted, gleaming black in the moonlight. He collapsed facedown, dead.