"Pity the man cursed with an unfilial son," Takashi intoned. "Your mother ..."

"My mother has nothing to do with what is between us," Theodore shouted. "Leave her out of it!"

"Your mother has more to do with it than you know,"

Takashi said in a hard-edged voice. "If you ever speak of her with raised voice again ...”

“What? You'll have me executed?" Takashi's eyes narrowed as color flared up his neck and onto his cheeks. "Get out!"

Theodore smiled inwardly, pleased to have gotten a rise out of his father. He executed a sharp, formal bow.

"I accept my dismissal," he said in a silky voice. "Long live the Coordinator."

Turning on his heel, Theodore strode from the room. He was halfway back to the barracks when he heard a volley of gunshots. The synchronism of the reports was that of a firing squad, reminding him suddenly that his trip to Palace Hall was a failure. Anastasi was still to be executed. His shoulders slumped. He walked on slowly.

14

Draconis Military Starport, Reykjavik, Rasalhague

Rasalhague Military District, Draconis Combine

23 September 3019

The sun had set over an hour ago, but the room was still comfortable. Theodore was even warm enough, especially where Tomoe's flesh met his own, that he did not yet wish to draw up the quilted covers. That time would come soon enough. For now, he was pleased to fold his free arm under his head and let his eyes roam her length. He smiled in pleasure that it was she who still shared his bed.

His thoughts turned to the previous days' events, making him wonder if perhaps his father should have died in the crash. If he, Theodore, were in charge now, only the guilty would face the firing squads. He knew that the group was responsible for the actions of its members, but failed to see how a child could be held responsible for the actions of its elders.

When he had returned from the meeting with Takashi, he had railed against the executions, calling Takashi's reprisals brutal and excessive. Tomoe had listened patiently, letting him talk himself out. Once he had exhausted his outrage, she led him to bed, soothing and calming him. Her talents as a listener and a bedmate were remarkable. He did not want to lose her.

"To-chan,I want to marry you."

She went very still as he spoke, and it was several heartbeats before she replied. "Do not tease me."

"I'm not teasing," he insisted. "I'm serious. My wedding has been cancelled, and now my father talks of arranging another. The realm still needs heirs. Why shouldn't wemake them? We are in love."

Tomoe squirmed out of his embrace and sat up. "You are still angry at your father. You just want to spite him by marrying your warrior doxy. Tomorrow you will see more clearly."

"Then marry me tonight," Theodore said, before she could marshal further arguments. "It is not proper."

"We are in love. What could be more proper?"

Tomoe's only response was silence. Feeling that he had found a chink in the armor of her resistance, he went on. "It's not just to spite him. If it were, I'd want to throw the marriage in his face, wouldn't I? We can keep it a secret; he won't know."

"Ever?" she questioned incredulously.

"Well ..." he stalled, caught out in an obviously ridiculous scheme. "Indrahar will help us keep the secret for awhile. He'll keep my father from becoming a matchmaker again. We could let Takashi know when our children are old enough. By then, it will be too late for him to do anything about it. The dynasty will have its heirs, legitimate ones. He'll probably say that the secrecy was his own plan all along. It makes for a better appearance that way."

Tomoe said nothing, but reached out to lay a hand on his leg.

"Say yes, To-chan."

She ran her hand along his side while Theodore tried to reinforce his arguments. Finally, seeing that she was not paying attention, he too lapsed into silence. With her mind on other things, he knew that his arguments, however rational or forceful, would have no effect. He watched as she caressed the scar on his left hip, the one from the night that Indrahar had inducted him into the Sons of the Dragon. "You wouldn't have that scar had you not fought again so soon afterward," she said in a soft voice, distant with old memories.

"I never told you how I got that," he said, suddenly wary. "But I know."

"How? How could you know?”

“I gave it to you," Tomoe said.

Theodore sat upright. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up to face him. She was unresisting in his grip.

"On the night Indrahar tested you," she continued. "I was there. I was the one who cut you."

"What?" He could not believe what he was hearing. How could she have been there?

"I am a jukurenshaof the O5P. Trained in ninjutsuas well as battle technology."

Theodore blinked in surprise. A Pillarine? An adept?He would never have considered the possibility.

"That night was my own test. I was to intercept you and retrieve some item from you. I took your pouch, but cut you in the attempt. Your own mastery of the Yagyu forms was too great for me to strike cleanly. I thought that I had failed but the JokanFlorimel said that I had passed. I did not understand, but I bowed to her wisdom. She gave me a new assignment; I was to get close to you, to protect you.

"I have failed in this assignment worse than in the last, because I became so close that I fell in love with you. I no longer have the detachment to maintain clarity of mind and fulfill my assignment."

Theodore was stunned. He had known Tomoe for four years at the Wisdom school. He had battled with and against her in the mock combats. She had been cold and distant, but he had seen nothing of the training of a Pillarine monk. She was a warrior, even if the gossips said otherwise.

Then he remembered her sudden thaw on graduation day and where it had led.

"Besides," she continued, oblivious to his thoughts, "I have no lineage. What is in my military record is a lie. I am not the daughter of a lesser house on the edge of the Pesht District. My father was a trade agent on the planet Volders in the Rasalhague District. He worked for Isesaki Shipping. When I was three, my parents were killed in a Steiner raid. The Pillarines took me in and raised me. They had me trained as a Mech Warrior, among other things. They falsified my history to place me in the DCMS. When I showed promise, they arranged for me to advance, ultimately to the Wisdom of the Dragon school. I am insufficiently exalted to be the wife of the future Coordinator."

Theodore released his grip on her arms. She slumped a little but otherwise seemed not to notice. She was a wonder. He thought he had known all about her, yet he was not angry at her revelation, only surprised. He hated intriguers and deceivers, but could not find it in himself to hate Tomoe. Her essence was pure and honest, fiercely loyal. Gently, he caressed her hair.

"I am not a slave to appearances like my father. I don't care if your parents were leatherworkers or gamblers. The O5P may have gotten you into Wisdom, but you were good enough to make your way through. We both know that old Leather Face Zangi would never accept a bribe to alter a student's scores.

"You are strong and capable, beautiful and loving," he said. "I want you as my wife."

Tomoe turned her dark eyes on his. He could feel her searching him, testing the strength of his emotions. Seeming finally satisfied with what she found, she bowed her head. Though she tried to mask her smile with the fall of her hair, Theodore caught it.