THe Grave at Storm's End

  The Grave at Storm’s End

  The Grave at Storm’s End

  The Vengeance Trilogy Book 3

  Devin Madson

  THE GRAVE AT STORM’S END

  Devin Madson

  SMASHWORDS EDITION

  Cloudburst Books

  Cloudburst Books

  P.O. Box 548

  Strathfieldsaye, VIC 3551

  Australia

  Copyright © Devin Madson 2016

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be stored or reproduced by any process without prior written permission of the copyright owner and the above publisher.

  978 0 9923059 7 0 (mobi)

  978 0 9923059 8 7 (epub)

  Edited by Amanda J Spedding

  Cover art by Viktor Fetsch

  Cover Design by Isabelle Young

  Map by John Renehan

  eBook designed by Geoff Brown

  For Chris.

  Without you this book would have been moved onto a memory stick, stomped on, screamed at, set on fire, and finally had its charred remains thrown in the sea never to be seen again.

  Thank you.

  Ts’ai

  Honour is Wealth.

  Emperor Kin Ts’ai - Emperor of Kisia

  General Esta Rini - General of the Rising Army

  General Hade Ryoji - General of the Rising Army. Head of the Imperial Guard

  General Jikuko - General of the Rising Army

  General Yi - General of the Rising Army

  General Vareen - Commander of Mei’lian’s standing battalions

  Commander Rusaka - Commander of the camp at Kogahaera

  Captain Dendzi - Imperial Guard

  Minister Bahain - Minister of the Right

  Master Yara - Imperial Secretary

  Councillor Gadokoi - Of the Imperial War Council

  Governor Ohi - Of the Imperial Council

  Father Kokoro - Court priest

  Father Hoto - Priest of Kuroshima

  Brother Jian - Priest. Endymion’s former guardian

  Master Kenji - Imperial Physician

  Apprentice Yoj - Master Kenji’s Apprentice

  Raijin - Kin’s brindle horse

  Otako

  We Conquer. You Bleed.

  Emperor Lan Otako - Deceased. Eldest son

  Emperor Tianto Otako - Deceased. Youngest son

  Empress Li - Deceased. Mother to Hana and Takehiko

  Emperor Katashi Otako ‘Monarch’ - Only son of Emperor Tianto

  Hatsukoi - Katashi’s bow

  Lady Hana Otako ‘Regent’ - Only living daughter of Emperor Lan

  Tili - Lady Hana’s maid

  General Manshin - Traitor general once loyal to Kin

  General Tikita - Traitor general once loyal to Kin

  General Roi - Traitor general once loyal to Kin

  Captain Terran - One of General Manshin’s captains

  Captain Tan - Pike captain. Loyal to Katashi

  Captain Yorah - Head Commander of the Pikes

  Shin Metai - Deceased. A rebel and Lady Hana’s protector

  Wen - Rebel

  Tika - Rebel

  Tann - Rebel

  Bei - Rebel

  Laroth

  Sight Without Seeing.

  Lord Nyraek Laroth - Deceased. Fifth Count of Esvar

  ‘Malice’ ‘Whoreson’ Laroth - Illegitimate son of Nyraek Laroth

  Lord Darius Laroth - Legitimate heir of Nyraek Laroth

  Lord Takehiko Otako ‘Endymion’ - Illegitimate son of Nyraek Laroth

  Kaze - Endymion’s horse

  Vices

  Vice Without Virtue.

  Lady Kimiko Otako ‘Adversity’ - Katashi’s twin sister

  Avarice - Once employed on the Laroth estate

  Spite - Vice

  Conceit - Vice

  Ire - Vice

  Lord Arata Toi ‘Hope’ - Vice

  Parsimony - Vice

  Rancor - Vice

  Enmity - Vice

  Pride - Vice

  When gods walk, the ground trembles

  When gods cry, the skies weep

  When gods love, the world sings

  When gods fight, empires fall

  Day One

  Chapter 1

  In darkness we waited. Silent. Tense. A group of Imperial Guards on the east bank of the Nuord River watching for the flash of a lantern.

  It was a starless night, and under layers of leather and silk I carried my weight again in sweat. A helmet hid blonde curls. They can’t know, Kin had said to me. You’re just another soldier.

  Beside me General Ryoji shifted his weight. He was little but an outline in the darkness, yet the blended scent of leather and sweat and cedar oil was impossible to mistake.

  We had been waiting too long.

  The smell changed and a whisper warmed my ear. ‘Are you all right, my lady?’

  Despite the heat Tili’s voice trembled. General Ryoji had cautioned against her involvement as he had cautioned against the mission, but tradition dictated the presence of another woman, so another woman there would be. Kin would risk no mistake. And Tili was in his debt.

  I nodded. ‘You?’

  Despite the darkness I was sure she nodded back, but when I felt for her hand, I found it tightly clenched. I squeezed her hand and wondered how more surely an Empath could feel fear.

  For weeks there had been nothing but bad news. First we had lost Risian. Then Lotan. News no longer arrived from the north and heavy losses stalked the heels of every victory like a plague we could not shake. We still held Kogahaera because of the Nuord River, its roar even now cutting the silence of an oppressive night.

  ‘We need to move,’ Kin said in a low rumble.

  ‘There’s been no signal, Majesty,’ General Ryoji returned.

  ‘If they’re dead they can’t signal.’

  ‘If they’re dead we should turn back.’

  General Ryoji seemed to hold his breath, statue-still as he waited for a reply.

  ‘It’s too late for that, General. We go to Kuroshima without them.’

  The General bowed, and again I wondered what Endymion might read in his rigidity that I could not. More than fear? More than the ill ease of a man ordered to act against his instinct?

  ‘Ji. Tanner,’ Ryoji said, speaking over my shoulder. ‘You’re with Lady Hana.’

  ‘General,’ I began. ‘I am armed and quite capable—’

  ‘Yes, my lady, but they have their orders.’

  Ji and Tanner filled the space he left behind. They were often with me, but though I knew their names and their faces, I trusted neither the way I trusted Ryoji.

  Our group started to move, but Tili remained pressed to my side as we climbed the gentle curve of the bridge. At the peak my sandal caught an uneven stone, but the press of soldiers was so close I could not fall, could only jog on as we descended into enemy territory – Otako territory. For years I had carried the name with pride, but tonight I would give it up to become Kin’s wife – Kin’s Empress.

  As a child I had dreamed a very different wedding night.

  Tili pressed closer, but although she hampered my movement I could not push her away. She had stuck with me too long for that, no sacrifice forgotten, though like S
hin’s name they went unspoken.

  We gained the far bank. Ahead light flickered through the dense shield of soldiers as it might through trees, glinting off buckles and patches of leather worn shiny with use.

  ‘Spread out.’

  The soldiers slowed and fanned out, weapons drawn.

  ‘No, not you, my lady,’ General Ryoji said, once more appearing beside me.

  ‘How can we maintain the ruse if I do not do my job?’ I said.

  ‘This is not your job, my lady, but keeping you safe is mine.’

  He moved away again, toward the pair of lanterns that marked the mountain path. At the top was Kisia’s oldest shrine, at the bottom two figures stood beneath an arbour of becalmed leaves. Both bowed as Kin approached, but when I went to join them Ji blocked my way with the flat of his blade. There was tension in every line of his body and his eyes darted, watching the soldiers move about the silent village. Without lanterns the distant buildings melded into the trees. Dark. Lifeless.

  Tili drew closer. Seconds dragged by. At Kin’s side General Ryoji’s hand was as close to his sword as could be considered polite in the company of priests. At last he made a sign and Ji lowered his weapon. ‘My lady,’ he said, and bowed.

  Tili and I joined them at the base of the mountain. Other soldiers gathered.

  ‘What’s going on?’ I hissed at General Ryoji. ‘What of our scouts?’

  He glanced at the two priests. ‘They haven’t seen them.’

  ‘But they are experienced soldiers.’

  ‘Yes, my lady,’ he said.

  ‘They can’t have just gone missing.’

  The general pulled at his bottom lip for a troubled instant. ‘No, my lady.’

  ‘It’s quiet. Is the village empty?’

  ‘All but, like we expected. The war is too close. Even at the base of the old mountain no one is safe.’

  ‘We are not alone here, General, the risk—’

  ‘The risk of being attacked while retreating is just as high, my lady,’ General Ryoji said, and I wondered if they were Kin’s words. ‘With none of the benefits of success. We go up.’

  He moved on with a nod not a bow, maintaining the pretence that I was a mere soldier.

  I edged toward Kin as a flotilla of paper lanterns spread light through the group. I kept one, but Kin refused with a small shake of his head.

  ‘This is too dangerous,’ I whispered. ‘We should leave.’

  ‘No, we proceed as planned, a group on each branch of the stairs.’

  It was the priests he spoke to and they bowed, their hands sliding down robes burnished by lantern light. Kin did not look at me, just moved away toward the right branch of the stairs taking a group of guards with him. Half our men would stay behind. The rest would climb the left branch with me, braving all one thousand four hundred and forty-four steps to the Kuroshima Shrine.

  The forest into which we climbed was thick and dark, our winking lanterns the only stars, our steps the only sound. One thousand four hundred and forty-four stairs, one for every day the goddess Lunyia had waited for her husband. She, the goddess of loyalty and fortune, to whom all Kisians prayed upon their marriage.

  At two hundred and ten I gave up counting. A few steps ahead General Ryoji stopped. ‘Lim.’

  ‘General?’

  I turned, swinging my lantern so fast the flame drew dangerously close to the paper. Behind me the guard identified as Lim touched a hand to his sword.

  ‘Run back down,’ the general said. ‘Tell Rashil to send for reinforcements.’

  ‘But General, there’s no sign of enemy movement and His Majesty said we could not risk—’

  ‘Send for reinforcements. There was nothing before the skirmish at Cherry Wood either,’ Ryoji said. ‘Or when they hit us south of Risian. If the bastards want to play games with us then this is the place they’ll choose. Send for reinforcements.’

  ‘Yes, General.’

  Fast footsteps faded away down the steps and I turned back to see the general’s usually handsome features screwed into a scowl.

  ‘You would think by your expression that you want to be attacked, General,’ I said.

  His eyes darted to my face and a rueful smile dawned. ‘Not exactly want, my lady, but I don’t like uncertainty.’

  ‘They can’t know we’re here. We were too careful.’

  Everyone had stopped to listen.

  ‘Yes, my lady, but Lord Laroth has a habit of knowing things he ought not. I cannot say I liked the man, but only a fool would not respect his skill.’

  Darius and I had argued often, but never had I thought to find him truly my enemy. Even after so many weeks it still felt wrong.

  A grimace crossed General Ryoji’s face. ‘Apologies, my lady, I did not—’

  ‘You expressed no thought I have not had myself, General,’ I said. ‘And if you’re right we had better keep moving.’

  The whole procession began to move again, faster now as though our enemy were right behind us. I tried not to think about the burning in my thighs and stared instead at the hem of the novice’s white robe as it eddied, ghost-like, about his feet. White robe, white sash, and plain reed sandals. It was an impractical colour for all but those who spent their lives in pursuit of piety.

  ‘We are almost there, my lady,’ the novice said at last, turning his head enough to show a cheek glistening with sweat.

  I made no answer. My whole body ached. One thousand four hundred and forty-four steps from the village to the shrine had left me cursing my robe, my armour, my helmet, and the heavy soldier’s sandals that were like a weight upon each foot.

  My stomach dropped as the last step vanished beneath me.

  ‘Welcome to Kuroshima, my lady,’ the novice said, halting beneath an arch of tangled branches hung with wildflowers. Beside me General Ryoji’s steps crunched to a halt upon the path, light spilling onto his feet. Inside Kin would be waiting. I had asked him to marry me, but it was he, not I, who had sped every formal process to bring us here.

  Kuroshima was old and I had expected grand and imposing, not the cosy bird’s hollow I found beyond the arch. There was no gleaming woodwork or fine art, just a simple curved wall of interlocking iron branches rising to form a low, rounded ceiling hung with tiny paper lanterns.

  Kin stood in the opposite archway, watching a priest approach across the slate floor. Every fourth tile was painted a jarring red, and whether by accident or design the man avoided them entirely.

  ‘Your Majesty, it is an honour to welcome you to Kuroshima,’ he said, bowing very low.

  ‘Thank you, Father,’ Kin returned, gesturing for the man to rise. ‘I have long wished to witness so great a part of our empire’s history, and what better occasion than upon the event of my own marriage.’

  He wore serenity like a blanket. Bowed again. ‘Indeed, Your Majesty. We are honoured beyond words.’

  Although Kin smiled he did not speak again, leaving the priest to glance around in search of the bride. His gaze hung for a moment upon Tili, a slight frown between his brows at so curvaceous a soldier.

  I pulled off my helmet. Sweat-dampened curls fell loose upon my brow and the old priest stared, sucking in a breath before sinking into another low bow. ‘Lady Hana Otako, our shrine is humbled indeed.’

  ‘You are too kind, Father,’ I said, aware that every eye was on me. ‘There is little that could humble so old and so beautiful a construction as Kuroshima. We are transient, but it endures. Before we begin I require somewhere to make myself presentable.’

  The man’s eyes bulged and he glanced at our novice guide. A silent heartbeat passed before the father bowed. ‘Of course, my lady, follow me.’

  Once again avoiding the red slates, he led me toward the opposite archway. My armour clinked with every step. I caught Kin’s eye as we passed, but though his lips smile
d his eyes did not. His attention, like General Ryoji’s, was elsewhere.

  The priest led the way to a small pavilion off the main path. It had a simple reed floor and walls lined with spare robes, white sashes, prayer chains and pouches of fresh incense. Its smell filled every breath with the taste of sandalwood.

  Tili followed. Frowning, the father was moved to speak, but I stopped him. ‘My maid, Father,’ I said. ‘We could not be too careful.’

  Tili removed her helmet and bowed to the old priest. ‘Father.’

  His disapproval did not shift, but with a sharp nod he left, ignoring Ji and Tanner as they took up silent vigil outside the door. There was urgency despite the calm night, and before the door closed my sword belt and weapons were on the floor. Whatever other conventions I had persuaded Kin to set aside, I could not kneel before the Shrine Stone armed.

  ‘Help me out of this,’ I said, tugging at the soldier’s knot that held my crimson sash. It went first, followed by the leather tunic and its linen under robe, gauntlets and breeches – every trapping of the common soldier made to size and strapped over my ceremonial robe. Its beautiful silk was creased, but arriving dishevelled was a small price to pay. No one watching our progress from the camp at Kogahaera would have reason to suspect Lady Hana made up one of the party. They might recognise Emperor Kin, but what could be more natural than an Emperor making a pilgrimage to Kuroshima in a time of war?

  I ran my fingers through my hair and Tili straightened my robe as best she could. We did not speak. There was little to say, and we had not been good at small talk of late. Shin’s name hovered between us, strangling every attempt to resurrect what we had once had.

  A knock fell upon the door. ‘My lady?’

  I had no mirror to be sure I was ready, but there was no time to do more. ‘Enter,’ I said, running my hands down my creased skirt.