L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix by Stephen D. Sullivan

more easily.
    He stopped and propped open a shutter overlooking the entryway to the castle. Sticking his head out, he inhaled deeply. The afternoon shadows had grown long, covering the courtyard below. Ishikawa recognized a figure walking toward the great gates.
    He closed the shutter and hurried toward the entryway. When he arrived, he found his brother, Seppun Kiaku, speaking cordially with the guards. Ishikawa walked over to them. Seeing his brother approach, Kiaku bowed.
    The younger man was neither as tall nor as broad as the captain of the guard. He did, however, share the Seppun's rugged good looks and well-honed muscles. Kiaku was dressed for traveling quickly. Only light plates of armor hung over vital parts of his body. Below them, he wore a simple tan kimono and hakima trousers. "Good to see you, Brother."
    "And you as well," Ishikawa replied. "We should talk."
    Kiaku nodded and bade good-bye to the guards. The two brothers turned and walked through the castle. They marched in silence through the high-beamed hall until they reached one of the many exits into the imperial gardens.
    Ishikawa pushed back the shoji panel leading to the veranda outside, bowed, and said, "After you." His brother nodded and stepped outside.
    They set a course beneath the cherry boughs, though the trees were now long past their bloom. "The garden seems dryer, less healthy than when I left," Kiaku said. "Even the flowerbeds have lost their color."
    "Much like the land itself, I fear," Ishikawa replied.
    Kiaku nodded. "Hai. Fall comes early this year. Soon the last vestiges of color will be washed away." He paused as if thinking, and then said, "What of the emperor? Any sign of him, or does Kachiko still have him under wraps?"
    "I saw him just before you arrived."
    Kiaku looked surprised. "You did? How is he?"
    "Not well," Ishikawa said. "The plague clings to him like a leech. The plague and Kachiko—"
    "That witch!" Kiaku said. "I sometimes think she conjured up this plague just to control the empire. Her first husband died after usurping the Emerald Throne, and yet, she married the new emperor."
    "The Mother of Scorpions has many legs to land on," Ishikawa said. "And many ears to hear with."
    "Not in this garden," Kiaku said.
    "I wouldn't be so sure." Ishikawa said. He looked around as if expecting to find Scorpion spies behind the trees.
    Frowning, he turned back to his brother. "I'm glad to see you looking so well," he said. "What news from beyond the walls?" he asked. "Are you recovered from the wound those maho-using bandits gave you?"
    "Yes," Kiaku said. "Quite recovered." He stated it with conviction, though his face looked uneasy. His hand stole unconsciously to his side, and he rubbed his ribs for a moment. "I healed in a geisha house in Mura Kita Chusen."
    Ishikawa laughed. "That's the brother I know!"
    "Then I grew restless," Kiaku continued. "Despite the ache in my lungs, I rode south into the lands of the Crane."
    "You what... ?" Ishikawa exclaimed. "That was a dangerous thing to do. You might have been killed. Even with the Phoenix helping them, the Crane could be overpowered by Hoturi's army any day."
    "I saw Hoturi's undead burn two villages near Kyuden Doji. The Crane couldn't stop them, and the Phoenix were little help. The Phoenix are brave, and their shugenja are resourceful—but there are only a handful of them."
    "Did you see Hoturi himself?"
    "No, but I met many people who had seen him commanding the undead hoards."
    Ishikawa crossed his arms over his chest. "I have trouble believing it. That's not the Doji Hoturi I know."
    An ironic grin flashed on Kiaku's handsome face. "I'm sure the empress would say the same thing about Yogo Junzo," he said. He stopped walking for a moment and looked to the sky. Somehow, it seemed less blue than when he had left to recover from his wounds, scarcely seven weeks ago.
    "What else did you see?"
    "More than you want to know, Brother," Kiaku said. "After seeing the Crane lands, I rode