L5r - scroll 03 - The Crane Read Online Free PDF Page A

"This arrived for you three days ago. I have not allowed it out of my presence since the moment it came."
    Hoturi's hand froze above the flower as he turned to look at the folded page. The seal was intact. "I see." The mark on the outer page bore the symbol of the empress.
    Kachiko.
    Hoturi took the note with the hand of a soldier, his faint calluses feeling the smooth weave of the rice-paper folds. After a moment, he placed it within the sleeve of his blue kimono. "What did the messenger say when he brought it?"
    Ameiko's face was a parade of shrouded emotions, each stronger than the last. "Only that you would be expected at the palace three days after the festival."
    Hoturi stood, placing his katana back between the cords of his obi.
    Doji Ameiko sat silently. With a quiet movement, her hands folded in her lap. The wife of the Crane Champion did not look up as her husband prepared to take his leave. "It will be dangerous for you to go, my love." For a moment, her facade shifted. A single tear touched her golden-green eyes. Deeper words stood behind those eyes, but they were words she could not say. Ameiko remembered the whispers, the insinuations about Hoturi and Kachiko. Those times had passed long before Ameiko's marriage to Hoturi, but she could always feel his heart. "You must forget the past, Hoturi," she whispered. The pain in her voice could not be covered by her softness. "She is the empress, and she is a Scorpion."
    "There are no more Scorpion, Ameiko-san," Hoturi countered flatly. "The emperor has killed them all."
    " 'You cannot catch the moon in a lake,' Hoturi. You cannot destroy what you cannot find."
    "You quote the words of Shinsei for me, Lady Doji?"
    "If you will not hear my words, perhaps you will listen to his. If you go, she will destroy you. Hoturi-sama, I beg you, find another way."
    Golden-brown eyes haunted his memory. A silken laugh echoed in his thoughts. Kachiko. "No."
    "For more than a decade, and she has not spoken to you. All those years, and now, this? Hoturi-sama, you are the champion of the Crane, the destroyer of her family. She does not..." Unspoken, her words hung between them. Ameiko's face caught a hint of sunlight. Her delicate features spoke of woodlands, and her eyes glowed like a misted glen. "I love you.
    "It is my duty." He met her gaze stoically. Behind his eyes, emotion and remembrance were folded together in the forge of a samurai's heart. "And I will perform my responsibility to the emperor's family. As all Doji must, I remember my obligations to my cousins in the Hantei line ... and their families."
    Hoturi's face did not betray his emotions as he bowed to his wife. Before he turned away, he plucked the wilted flower from the branch and dropped it to the ground. "Do you know why the Crane hate to see imperfection, Ameiko-san?" Watching until she looked up at him, Hoturi continued, "Because it reminds us of the nature of our souls."
    With that, the Crane Champion turned and strode down the garden trail alone.
    His lady picked up the discarded blossom and pressed the wilted petal to her tear-stained cheek.
    toshimoko
    Generations ago, between the palace and the gardens of Kyuden Kakita, cherry trees had been planted. Flowering branches shaded the paths, and wide trunks carried the weight of centuries. Pastures of green grass rolled merrily past a bubbling brook. In the distance, the willow pond glistened in the morning sunlight.
    It was just after dawn, but already the palace was alive with movement and laughter. Mahogany floors gleamed, and busy heimin carried trays laden with food to the apartments of the guests.
    The Crane palace was not designed for siege, but for pleasure. Inside the kyuden's whitewashed walls, gold arches separated the inner courtyards from the circling balconies and paths of the inner keep. Beautiful carvings and elaborate figurines adorned low alcoves and caused many guests to cease their
    speech and simply admire. Warmth spread through the building