The Path to Leadership

On the far side of the continent, Akiko, Keiko and the group that traveled with them made their way through the woods near Merwindolyn. In addition to the soldiers who had managed to get away were a few score of townspeople who had managed to escape before the tunnel was discovered and collapsed. Because of that, they knew they couldn't stay still for long as it would only be a matter of time before the enemy would be able to try and find where the tunnel came out and began tracking them.

"We're not seeing any sign of pursuit," Jun reported. "Best guess, from the number of people they rounded up, gathering that many prisoners and getting them back to the capital would require a followup force hasn't arrived yet. The wyvern corps being just the strike force would have just been there to secure their objective. They likely don't have sufficient numbers for an extended chase without compromising their position until their main force arrives."

"We can't count on that though, My Lady," Hiroshige advised. "Besides, many among our group aren't soldiers. We've got a large number of civilians who won't do well in the woods for very long. We have some hunters who can extend our food supply a little while and we've been able to find some signs of water, but that's only a temporary solution."

"What's in the immediate area that's not under attack?" Akiko asked.

There's the village of Tharant a few days trek south of here, still within the Roark Barony, so we'd still have protection from scrying. We have a few friends there who might be able to help us," Jun suggested.

"They'd be hard pressed to support this many people, in addition to their own population," Hiroshige disagreed. "The town of Kalldrun's larger and would make a much stronger position to reestablish ourselves."

"Kalldrun's in Belray Barony and Lord Belray's loyalties are... ambivalent at best," Jun warned. "He's helped us before in the past, but with the Emperor's forces pushing hard to run us down, he may very well decide it's every man for himself."

Keiko took a moment to think about the options, then asked, "Let me ask you guys... does Lord Belray know about this... prophecy?"

"Everyone in the outer Baronies knows about that prophecy," Hiroshige confirmed.

Keiko then looked at Akiko with a knowing expression. After a long pause, Akiko sighed with determination. "Then how about we go meet with him and see what he has to say. If this prophecy is supposed to mean anything, and if we're not just two random kidnapped girls from another world, then we need to find out, one way or another."

Jun and Hiroshige looked at Akiko with concern. "Are you sure you're ready?"

Akiko steeled herself before answered. "Sergeant Takeda isn't here anymore. He's prepared me the best he could, and if this is supposed to be my... destiny as he believed it to be, then it's time I stopped running from it and started accepting who I'm supposed to be." 

____________________________________________

Emperor Takahito Minamoto took a momentary pause from his duties from the half-dozen functionaries as a messenger came into the central chamber. The task of ruling an empire that spanned over a dozen Baronies and thousands of leagues in every direction necessitated administrative overhead and while the routine matters were delegated to bureaucrats, the major decisions still came up to this office. In particular was a project he had been shepherding for the past year, mostly in secret. Once completed, it would put an end to the remote Baronies independence, crushing them once and for all. But that could wait until the current matter was resolved.

"A minor matter, My Lord," the messenger reported. "The Lady Masako has requested your presence at your convenience."

Interesting... The Emperor smiled inwardly. She had been carrying the soul sword for the better part of nearly two weeks by now and the servants who had been delegated for her immediate needs had all confirmed subtle but progressive changes in her behavior, just as he predicted. In truth, he was expecting that she would request this meeting eventually, though not this soon. "Have her wait for me in the Monument lounge and inform her I will be there within the hour," he informed the messenger, before returning to the meeting.

After the meeting concluded, the Emperor took a few minutes to review the notes his servants had compiled for him. As Masako suspected, virtually nothing she did in this castle was private, despite assurance to the contrary. Scanning the notes, he smiled... just as he predicted, she was becoming more like Masahiro with each passing day... and why not... in a very real sense, she was Masahiro reborn, given what most men throughout history have wanted more than anything else, a second chance at life. If anything, I envied him in many ways... a fresh start, with all the knowledge and benefits of my prior life. What greater gift could the Gods have given than that?

Masako stood up as soon as the Emperor entered. "My Lord, I... I've been having questions about your so... I mean... my former life... You've said that... he was... cruelly separated... You mean, he was killed... Who killed him?"

"He died during a dark, stormy night," the Emperor stated resolutely. "Even our scryers weren't able to see his face and whoever did it made sure to do everything they could to hide their identity. No surprise really, since I'm sure they knew killing a noble or worse, a royal would mean the gravest possible punishment. Finding and recovering the soul sword was honestly the higher priority than recovering the body at the time, and by the time we were able to recover his body for burial, the clues were long gone."

Masako shuddered as she could feel a sympathetic tremor from the sword reacting from recalling that night, along with the rush of primal emotions from reliving the death over again. "Th-then whoever killed... me... is still out there? They could kill me again?"

The Emperor stepped closer to Masako and placed his hand on her shoulder, with an almost affectionate manner, "We... won't let that happen. This time, you'll have the might of the Empire behind you. We'll find the person who killed you last time, and this time... destiny will ensure that when you face off against your foe... it will be you that will stand victorious."