“WHERE IS HE?”
A huge strong hand lashed out and the servant fell to the floor, Imperial regalia twisted on his kimono, blood trailing down his lip. He raised a hand as if to defend himself, but did not see the boot.
“Where. Is. He? You will tell me now before we lose more ground. I will see the face of my enemy crushed beneath my boot, buried in the earth, or you will take his place.”
Another furious kick sent the Imperial messenger rolling away. One could no longer see the Miya heraldry on his attire.
A great hulking beast of a man stood looking down at the weak man, literally frothing at the mouth. He drank deep from a heavy flask of strange gaijin liquor and spat it out all over the Imperial servant. The blasphemous act did not draw even a single questioning glance from the loyal Unicorn crowd.
“I am Moto Ujiaki, commander of the Unicorn, second-in-command of the defenses of Otosan Uchi and the Inner City itself. You. Will. Tell. Me.” Each word punctuated by a punch or a kick. A cracking sound followed closely by a cry told all of the messenger’s broken ribs.
“He isn’t going to tell you much if you kill him.” The voice was calm, but firm. Feminine, but strong and demanding. It required instant obedience.
Akodo Matoko stepped into the circle of Imperial soldiers and looked down at the Sentaku representative.
“You would do well to tell him, Miya-san. We have both grown tired of the political games of your betters. This folly of a war has turned against us. Your kind swore that they could keep our numbers up, the Mondai Ketsu in check.” Matoko crouched down on her haunches and used a long iron fan to lift the man’s chin.
“Yet here we are, barely days in and already they have pulled too many from our cause. I am a patient woman, but even my limits are being tested. And Ujiaki-san has never been known for his calm.”
Matoko turned her head and heard the grunt as the man was lifted bodily from the floor. When she looked back, Ujiaki had the man held up with one arm, one might fist wrapped around his kimono.
“Tell me where to find Ashidaka Koutetsu. I will ride him down and tear apart his body with my steed. I will drag him through the Ekohikei until he is as unrecognizable as the leavings of my great stallion.”
Akodo Matoko continued to walk away. She knew, in time, Ujiaki would get his answer. In time the Moto would be unleashed on the Crane.
She felt a furious pumping of blood and a strange heat rise up in her chest. This anger was unlike her.
But she liked it.
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