The Scorpion by Stephen D. Sullivan

Author:Stephen D. Sullivan [Sullivan, Stephen D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fiction, General, Fantasy, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9780786916849
Google: EvzokQEACAAJ
Amazon: 0786916842
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Published: 2000-04-15T06:00:00+00:00

He shook his head. "No. No need to worry. I just got tied up with some business at court."

"What kind of business?" she asked shyly.

Toturi looked at her and. sighed. Something was bothering her, though he couldn't figure out what. "Why do you ask?" he said.

"Because I missed you," she answered. "It has been nearly a month since our last... appointment and I feared you would not return."

The Lion laughed, full and hearty. "You need never fear that, my love. I would sooner die than desert you."

"Would you?" she asked.

"Of course I would."

"Then what kept you from my side?"

Toturi motioned for her to sit. He sat down beside her.

"Bad luck, I suppose," he said. "Papers—official business— that I had signed were lost. They had to be drawn up and signed again. Then my horse came up lame and needed to be reshod. To make matters worse, several of my people got

involved in a teahouse brawl in Otosan Uchi. I couldn't leave until I sorted all those things out."

He put his arm around her. "But, believe me," he continued, "I had no choice. Sometimes I wish 1 had never become a daimyo."

"I wish . . ." she said,"... I wish you could stay with me always."

"As do I," he said. He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately. They separated, and he pressed her head against his chest. "I would give the world if I could."

A shudder ran through her delicate frame.

"Are you cold, my love?" Toturi asked. "A warm bath will change that. Draw one for us both, will you?"

Hatsuko nodded and walked toward the shoji screen to the bathhouse that adjoined her room. Then she turned back.

"Toturi-sama," she said, "if you could have but one wish, what would it be?"

"One wish?" he said, rubbing his chin. "That's easy." He walked to her side and embraced her. "I would wish that you and I could be together forever."

"As you told me before? In a small cabin in the woods?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, smiling down at her. "Together, forever, in our small cabin hidden away in the forest."

She smiled back at him, but she did not meet his eyes.

COMING OF AGE

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