Ryojin- the Bonded Blade by Noah Ward

Author:Noah Ward [Ward, Noah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

33

Trap

After a second rap on the doors, it slid open.

Kaz was across the small room and had the tip of her blade hovering in front of the face of a startled server, sending the tray in their hands crashing to the floor. Rice, grilled meat in rich sauce, sweet fruits in syrup, and other foodstuffs spilled on the mats.

It didn’t matter. Kaz had lost her appetite.

“I’m--I’m sorry,” the man began.

She sheathed her katana, frustrated with her nerves. “Just leave it.”

“I can--”

“Leave,” she hissed.

He was frozen for a moment, torn between his duties and the irate, sword-wielding woman before him. He came to his senses and scurried away. Kaz slid the door shut with her sheathed blade and cursed.

Breathe.

Shay was in danger. She was in danger. Things were supposed to be improving, not turning to shit. The kamen may have not told him the whole truth, but she knew he would not be one of Saito’s agents. Retsudan had his own retinue of shadowy warriors and that man had just been too...insouciant to be born of their regimented, dispassionate clans. Plus, he would gain nothing from supposedly saving her life and alerting her to the presence of that thing outside.

Could it be same one who attacked her? Impossible. She’d died. But there was more chance of her being related to Saito. There were just too many coincidences.

How did Shay fit into all of this? Her uncle of whomever dealt in illegal krystallis? It married with the fact the girl was reticent to divulge any information about both of them and why she could gain Kaz information on rare krystallis.

Kaz sidled up to the window and cracked it open just a slither. Spying the outside, she discovered the one the kamen warned her about. They wore peculiar round lenses over their eyes despite the overcast day and stuck to one of the alleys between an inn and a shop that sold artwork.

She was fucked.

No, this could be salvaged. She just had to get to Shay now, demand that the girl relinquish what her uncle knew. It was so close she could feel it in her grasp. If the kamen planned to swoop in and arrest them or whatever his daimyo planned, surely she could cash in that favour for a pardon. If not, she’d cut her way out of there.

But what if that all failed?

Just take it one step at a time, Kaz. Standing here isn’t doing anything.

Kaz tossed her sword to the floor and flung off her robe. While it would have been nice to have her clothes and armour seen to before embarking on a journey that would take shogens knew how long to see through, she had no choice. Her soaking hair, while not particularly long, caught buckles as she strapped on her armour, but she didn’t care and yanked a clump off with a sharp tug.

After strapping on her swords, grabbing a fistful of aians for emergencies, as well as the kamen’s coin, she scooped a rice ball off the floor and stuffed it in her mouth out of necessity rather than pleasure.

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