Deathlands 31 - Keeper of the Sun by James Axler

Author:James Axler
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-02-10T16:44:00+00:00

THE MOTEL WAS SLIDING into sleep. Even the noise from the ballroom was diminishing. They passed several internal guards and also encountered Mashashige, striding along one of the corridors past what had once been a weight room filled with rusting Nautilus equipment. "It is quiet, friends," the shogun said.

"Hope it stays that way," Ryan replied. "Just taking a last look around."

"I will walk along with you, Cawdor-san, and with you, Krysty Wroth."

Ryan found it impossible to dislike the warlord, admiring his total cool.

They walked together in a companionable silence until they reached the ballroom doors. One of the crimson-and-white-uniformed sec men was fiddling with the outer bolts, but he bowed and walked quickly away as they approached him.

"I don't know how you recognize all your men, Lord Mashashige," Krysty said.

"I do not know them all. His face was that of a strange person to me."

"In strength there's weakness," Ryan said, holding the heavy door open for the shogun and Krysty to walk through.

There was row upon row of the troops, all sleeping on thin straw mattresses that had been carried in the wags.

"They are brave and loyal," Mashashige said.

"You pay them, or is it like family?" Ryan asked. "If you got beaten by the ronin, then would your men stay and support whoever the leader of the ronin is?"

"You mean my younger brother, Ryuku?"

"Brother?"

Krysty stared at the shogun. "All of this is a matter between you and your brother?"

"He has tried for some years to defeat me. But he becomes more bold and tries to slay me in my own home. That is not to be forgiven by me."

Ryan whistled softly between his teeth. "I never knew that we were involved in brotherly hate."

The shogun came close to smiling. "Do you know anything of brothers, Cawdor-san?"

Ryan touched the eye patch. "Brother did this to me," he said. "Oh, yeah, I know all there is to know about how brothers can treat each other."

Mashashige gestured at the room filled with men. "It is great stupid thinking from Ryuku. He has less than half the number of warriors, though we have been sorely wounded by the tsunami slaying some of our best samurai. Such men are not easily replaced by me."

The moonlight was filtered through the steel shutters over all the windows. Here and there men were snoring. A few were awake, propped up on their elbows to watch their lord and the gaijin . The main door of the ballroom closed softly.

Ryan heard the faint sound of a bolt sliding across and a lock clicking into action.

"What?" He turned.

Mashashige also heard it and swung around, his sword miraculously appearing in his right hand. "We have been locked in," he said quietly.

"Man who was messing with the bolts when we came in," Krysty stated. "Got a bad feeling from him."

"You were right." The shogun looked around the room. "Does this mean they hope to hold us trapped here while traitors open the gates to my brother and the ronin who wait?" He shook his head.

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