I was five when I watched my mother die. It was shortly after Hui Long had stolen a steed and the great Scaled Nodachi, prized possession of the clan elders. They had meant to pass it on as an heirloom to their sons. We had different plans for it: we wanted to save the world. Hui was always an incredible fighter — she once defended the village from mountain basilisks and war monkeys at the young age of four. Yet still, the elders did not consider her child of the spirits, despite all the signs. 

I think, looking back on it, it was probably because she was a woman. 

I was too young to understand the gender politics at the time. Really, all I cared about was helping my friend, and the person I loved to an extent. So when I gave her the opportunity to steal the steed, I didn’t think about myself. I thought only about her. And she no doubt knew that, and still went along with the plan. 

When they caught me, they beat me. The calloused hands of trained Adachi warriors wailed down upon my little body until I was swollen all over and my nose leaked like water from a well. 

They dragged me by my hair to the procession of elders, kicking me into the stone judgment ring. 

“So this is the little brat who helped the girl?” one elder, Kai, said. He sat to the right of our main elder, Renji. Strong old man he was – broad shoulders, salt and pepper hair tied into a warrior bun, gray eyes. 

“What does he matter? Why are we not dealing with the girl?” Daichi, the large-eyebrowed elder to the left of Renji, asked. “We waste time with him.” 

“The girl is long gone. She has taken our fastest steed and she rides well. She could be as far as the forest of thieves by now, and we cannot match her pace,” Hikaru, the youngest elder says. He is the only one who looks at me with some measure of pity. 

“So, what, we’re just meant to let her go?” Daichi asked. His fists shook with privileged rage: “we have been robbed blind by a girl and her mutt. Do you understand how dishonorable that is? What will they say of our council? Lo and behold the generation of elders who could not stop a little girl from stealing their greatest heirloom.” 

“My men have already sent for the girl,” Kai said. He looked at the empty fifth chair of the council. “Where is Masaru?” 

“He is in prayer to the spirits,” Hikaru explained. 

“Ah so he is grieving. I see. Bastard thought he could get the sword passed to his son.” 

“It is not lost to us yet,” Renji speaks for once, his voice low and rumbling. The voice of a mountain speaking into a valley. “And this treason shall not go unpunished. Not for the girl and not for the bastard.” 

I was too bloodied to really register their words. I just hung my head low. 

“What shall be done to the girl?” Kai asked. 

Renji pondered this question for a moment, resting his head on his fist. Then, he shrugged. “We cannot kill her. She will be caught and when she is, she will be married to another clan. Let some noble little shit do what he will with her.” 

Hikaru remained neutral faced, but even I could tell at the time that he was bothered by this decree. I hoped he might save me. 

Kai simply nodded. Daichi was ecstatic — sadistic bastard. 

“And the boy?” Hikaru hazarded.

Renji didn’t even spare me a glance. “We need a tower slave. He can be of use. But, his holdings and purse will be seized. And bring his mother here — her head will be mounted in front of their household.” 

The elder said the words with such casual cruelty, that I didn’t understand it at first. 

“All in agreement?” Renji asked. He raised his hand and Daichi followed immediately, along with Kai. Hikaru did not raise his hand, eliciting a glare from Renji. 

“All in disagreement?” Renji followed up. Hikaru still did not raise his hand. 

Daichi sighed. “Abstaining is cowardice Hikaru.” 

Hikaru said nothing. 

“Guards, bring Lady Kuragami here,” Renji said. As the guards began to drag me away, I tried struggling, but one dealt a blow to the back of my head with his spear. Stars flashed and I fell to the stone, dripping blood along the judgment glyphs. 

Renji held his hand up. The guards halted their dragging. 

“Let him stay. He can watch his mother die.”