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"Don't be an asshole,” Mason told him. “Keno wouldn't lie about shit."

"And what do I care about what a pair of
skraelingjar
ask for?” Egil sneered.

Mason's mouth tightened, and I thought he was going to punch Egil for that.

"Mason-san, I can take care of myself,” I stated.

Logan just was hanging back, but the other two were watching him. I wondered if it was because they thought that he was in charge, because he was white. I knew that sounded stupid, but they were the ones calling me and Mason names.

I had talked to Logan a little last night. Not too much, since I didn't know who would be listening. He'd asked questions about my “sister” and me. I told him as little as possible, because I didn't trust him. Really, I wasn't naive enough to think he was a good guy because he was with Wolf and Mason. I remembered how nasty some of the scientists had been back in the real world. He seemed like a nice guy, but I couldn't take that chance, not now.

"I take it that you're not going to give me back my property?” I asked politely.

Both of them just laughed. It wasn't a nice laughter, and so I didn't feel bad about what I was going to do. I kicked Tholf behind his knee, hard, making him stumble to the ground. That put us at the same level, almost. I struck Tholf on the shoulder of the arm holding the
wakizashi
and then hit him in that same wrist so that he dropped the weapon. I caught the
wakizashi
as it fell and kicked him in the head after that, wanting him to stay down for a while. I didn't care about being nice about it.

I whirled and blocked Egil's strike with the
wakizashi
, dancing back after, feeling the shock of his blow up my arm. I knew I wouldn't win in a contest of strength against anyone here but Logan, maybe. Egil held the katana like it was one of their two-handed swords, and I almost laughed at how awkward it looked. But the man was trying to kill me, so it really wasn't funny.

I did a leg sweep, trying to dislocate his kneecap. It almost worked. He went down on one knee, a snarl on his face. He thrust the katana forward, as if it had a sharpened tip. I batted it aside, whirling again and kicking him on the side of the head. It was showy, and if it had been someone who had been better trained, I wouldn't have done something like that. It stunned him, and he dropped the katana. I followed up that kick with a couple of more, and soon he was unconscious on the sand.

I scooped up the katana, sheathed it and then the
wakizashi
, and thrust both of them between my belt and the pants I was almost wearing. It looked ridiculous, but I didn't care. The whole thing had taken about a minute. “Are there any other objections?” I asked in a frigid tone.

"The swords are yours,” Tholf rumbled, looking angry and impressed at the same time. Either he was tougher than I thought he was or I was weaker; I was betting on weaker. There was something about being a spirit here that made someone stronger. “Take them,
skraeling
."

"I thank you for seeing reason,” I said softly before turning and stalking down the beach, knowing that Mason and Logan would follow me. I was shaking and didn't want them to see it. We got out of earshot of the others before Mason said something.

"You're doin’ good, kid,” he told me proudly, tousling my hair.

Logan was just frowning thoughtfully. “That might be—"

"Fuck ‘em,” Mason said. “Keno can kick ass. So what?'

"He just embarrassed two high-ranking Norsemen in front of others. I think that it might cause trouble,” Logan said. “We should tell Wolf about this."

I sat down. “I don't think that I'm recovered as I should be,” I said faintly. “Can we just sit here for a while before telling Wolf about this?"

He was talking to Njalsson about something, which was why he wasn't with us. I was certain Mason and Logan were scouting out the island for some reason. I sat down before I collapsed, which would get me in all sorts of trouble with everyone.

"I didn't think that Samojirou would give something like that as a gift,” Mason said after he sat down.

"And just what do you think that he'd give me?” I asked, not wanting to tell him I had lied. I wasn't going to tell them I had been disguised as Tamazusa's maid for this trip. That really wasn't their business. Mason would tease me about it, although I didn't mind being teased. I was looking forward to Seki and the rest of his squad doing so when we were returned home. I was very glad they hadn't been on the ship with us, because I feared they would have drowned like those poor sailors.

But here and now was not the place or time for teasing me like that.

"Hell, the way that you dressed, I don't know what, but not swords,” Mason said with a grin.

"Way he was dressed?” Logan asked curiously.

"His boyfriend got a kink about dressing him as a chick,” Mason said. I wondered if I could just smack him. That was no one's business but Samojirou's and mine. That it was a good disguise for me for a number of reasons wasn't something I was going to tell them.

Logan looked at me strangely for a second before saying quietly, “Don't mention that to anyone here. Seriously, these people have less tolerance for such things than the military does."

Mason rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. “You still see Fuse-hime?” he asked me after a quiet minute.

"I see all my family,” I said.

"Family?” Logan asked.

"Long story,” Mason said. “But tell her that I said ‘hi’ for me next time that you see her."

"I will,” I promised.

Logan looked to be thinking hard on something, but he didn't ask any more questions. We sat there quietly until I stopped shaking. Mason frowned at me. “You know that I'm gonna have to tell Tamazusa about this too. You look like crap. And I don't want her mad at me because you hid this from her."

"I know,” I said.

I was tired, drained really, but I didn't know why. I should have been recovered from almost drowning by now. I needed to rest, which I knew wasn't going to happen. We had to get back to Nippon,
fast
, and I was going to push that fact with Wolf and the others. I didn't know what their mission was, but I didn't care; mine was to get Tamazusa back to her
kuni
as quickly as I could and get back to my lover before he did something we would both regret.

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Samojirou

I woke up several times, but each time I was given some sort of overly sweet tea to drink, and I drifted off into unconsciousness again. I didn't care to be awake, which was the main reason I let them drug me. When I woke up this time, I heard the rustle of silk and a gentle hand on my forehead.

"You seem to be better,” a soft voice told me. It was Fuse.

I didn't know if I was better, but I knew she was here for a reason. I tried to gather my wits about me, and all I could think was that Keno was gone. I knew I should mourn Tamazusa also, since we had been together for centuries. While it was I who had caused her to be here in the Dreamlands, she had forgiven me. I eventually forgave myself when I saw how happy she was here with the power she had wielded. But all that was echoing in my heart and my head was that Keno was gone.

I slowly opened my eyes. Fuse was looking down at me with a worried expression on her face. I noticed that Yukiko, Keno's personal maid, was with her. She had dressed as Sakura when Tamazusa and Keno had left, an excellent idea I was surprised Keno had thought of. It was a move in the Game I hadn't expected out of him. I thought Yukiko had been amused that they had switched roles like that.

"Yukiko-san, could you get us something to eat?” Fuse asked with a smile.

She bowed and left the room, after looking at me with a frown on her face. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and this was about the only time I hadn't seen her with a smile on her face. As a flower spirit, it was her nature to be cheerful all the time.

"He's gone,” I said numbly. My throat felt odd for some reason, tight, and I was unable to swallow.

"Samojirou-sama... Aboshi, please,” Fuse started, her eyes bright with unshed tears as she handed me a cup of tea after I sat up. “He wouldn't have wanted this."

"Does it matter?” I asked dully. I sipped at my tea, feeling my throat ease. I sensed that there was something in it, but it wasn't what they had been drugging me with before.

"There is trouble,” she said softly. “I fear that treachery was involved with what happened to Keno and your lady."

"He liked having a family again,” I said, not really listening to what she had to say. I was wondering where the nearest katana was and who I could ask to be my second. I didn't want to live having lost Keno again.

"Pay attention,” Fuse chided gently. “This is important."

"It isn't,” I told her.

"Don't be hasty,” she said. “I don't think that things are as bad—"

"Tamazusa no longer holds this
kuni
,” I shouted. “She is gone. Keno... Keno would protect her with his last breath.” My voice broke on the last word. I took a deep breath and fought not to start howling my denial of what had happened to the heavens for a second time.

"That does not mean that either one of them are dead,” Fuse snapped.

I stared at her dumbly. She looked tired and out of sorts, and I wondered how long I had been unconscious.

"I am not a lord,” she continued in a calmer tone of voice, “but my husband is, and most of my sons are. I know of the power, the bargains one has with the land, the
kuni
's power and the responsibility it demands."

"He is
gone,
” I snarled. “I should have—"

"Who was she meeting with?” Fuse asked, interrupting me.

I shrugged, since it didn't matter now, since the dead have no secrets to keep. “Iida Hideaki of Tsushima. He was interested in striking some sort of bargain with her."

Tsushima was a small island on the tip of Nippon, so far south and west that it was almost not
in
Nippon, on the borders of the southern barbarians known as the Egyptians. I found it to be a cheerless place the one or two times I had visited it. There wasn't much there, and I wondered how Iida stood to spend any time there.

"The rumors are that he was looking for a consort,” Fuse said thoughtfully. “But I doubt that Tamazusa would have bargained with him about that. Unless she managed to ally with him or offer him support without her body being part of the bargain. So they would have had very little to talk about."

"How do you know about that?” I asked, feeling a faint stir of curiosity.

She smiled. “I have sons, and there are many who will talk to them. And my sons talk to me. But I think there is a reason Iida approached her that was not in the rumors. I think that is why what happened has happened."

"And Iida-sama had approached me,” Inuyama Dousetsu said from the doorway. “He was hoping that I would ally with him, because of what had happened in the real world. I declined, telling him I would deal with you in my own manner."

I actually was glad to see him. He would be very happy to be my second and take my head as I committed
seppuku
. I had done him a grave injustice when he had been alive, and I knew he would be happy to end my existence. I slowly pushed myself up and off the bed to stand.

"Would you do me the honor of being my second?” I asked Inuyama.

He looked startled for a second and then threw a frantic glance at his mother, begging wordlessly for her to deal with this. Inuyama was a serious man, called dour by many, but he didn't know how to deal with me right now. I knew he wasn't comfortable with my relationship with Keno and that he didn't understand how I could love Keno so much.

"Aboshi!” Fuse exclaimed, clearly annoyed. It was odd that she was calling me by my first name, especially with no honorific attached, but I believed that she was out of patience with me.

"I think that you might want to wait,” Inuyama said after Fuse glared at him.

"About Iida. Do you know why no one ever manages to take that small island he has?” Inuyama asked.

"Because no one wants it,” I told him snidely.

"While it lacks the amenities
you
might want, it is a strategic foothold that could lead to an invasion of Nippon,” Inuyama explained patiently. I didn't like seeing the pity in his face. “None of those foolish enough to think they could take the island have ever done so. I think that it is because its lord has made bargains not just with the land, but with the sea."

I didn't care about what the man had done, except for the fact that he had killed my lover and the woman I thought of as a sister. “I will kill him,” I growled, sounding more like an animal than anything.

"You can't leave here,” Fuse said. “The land is not calm. You need to—"

"You think that I would hold this place?” I demanded.

"Samojirou-sama,” Fuse started softly, trying to get me to see reason. “I know that you wish to join my son in death. I am just asking you to wait. I feel that he isn't gone. Something happened out there, but we don't know what."

"I don't believe you."

"He'll join you if you kill yourself and he gets back here,” Inuyama said roughly. “Do you want that? Keno... I don't understand your relationship, how he is happy being your lover. How he is different because of his time in the real word and being reborn. But he will not live without you. Do you want to be the cause of his death because you couldn't wait? Do you love him so little?"

"He's gone,” I repeated numbly.

"Wait,” Inuyama said, echoing his mother. “Trust her."

"Tamazusa would not yield her control of the land, no matter who was threatened,” I said flatly. “She is gone. Her Reavers have left. Her ties to the land have been severed."

"That doesn't mean that she and Keno are dead,” Fuse repeated. “Think! Such things have happened before."

I looked at both of them with dull eyes. The silence stretched out, and I finally noticed another one of Keno's brothers, Inukai Genpachi, was here. He didn't hold a
kuni
, and so I saw what Fuse's plan was: replace Tamazusa with one of her sons if I refused to take the
kuni
. I didn't blame her. Her family was a power in the North, and they wanted someone they could trust at their backs.