Jun had his men round up the turncoats by the end of night. Having them lined up in front of him was not a pleasant sight as he felt the weight of their stares press against his back. If he were closer to the borders of Qui, he would have to problem keeping them prisoner in order to seek justice for their actions. However, the fact of the matter was that Qui was leagues away from the lands on which he stood and holding thirty men prisoner would be difficult.

      But these men fought by his side through many campaigns and battles, so neither could he execute them. If this had been just another battle, men against men as Jun had been taught, he might have just let them go. Instead, they had raped women and children, killing many others. 

      Any chance of the Queen's peace treaty being signed in the coming years was gone with the sacking of Shin's capital. 

      "We don't make peace with our enemies. We fight and destroy and take everything they hold dear," Wuhan had told him when Jun's men had rounded him up. 

      "These were not our enemies. They were just women and children," Jun informed him, his hands folded behind his back. "Tian Wuhan, for your actions and leadership in this massacre, I sentence you to death."

      Jun only hoped he wouldn't come to regret cutting off the head of his lieutenant general.

         ●▬Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ▬●

      The people of Kemuri were ready to see Qui's army depart in its final days of repairing itself from the attack. The very first area that picked itself back onto its feet were the brothels of the pleasure district, almost as if they stole light from the very people around.

      Jun had thought it would take longer for it to recover after so many Kemuri whores had been raped and killed, but when he saw it, many of the girls invited him over like a battle never happened. It was the only place where he didn't get looks of scorn, and a part of him still needed to see Shiragiku's face after the long and empty nights of betrayal and politics.

      Even if she didn't accept him as a client and he was forced to see her from a distance before he left this city was enough for him. However, the moment he entered, he was ushered into her room where she sat sipping tea under a table. She sat so comfortably and at peace, making him wonder if she was there for the massacre that took place weeks prior.

      "Honored general, I was beginning to think you forgot me," she told him, her brilliant hazel eyes burned like fire in his body when her gaze met his. 

      He sat across from her, his eyes never breaking contact. He wanted to laugh at how wrong her statement was, knowing he couldn't forget her face even if he tried.

      "My army is setting off from Kemuri in the evening," he informed her, and her smile disappeared.

      "You are leaving," she asked, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear as  her eyes lowered to her tea pot and the beautifully painted sake dish. She poured him a cup, holding it up for him to take. He raised his hand, taking a feel of her fingers brushing against his when he grabbed the cup from her grasp. 

      "We cannot stay here any longer," Jun said, his gaze meeting hers once more.

      "Can't say I am not disappointed," she told him, her tea cup raising to her lips. His eyes danced over the vibrant red tint that covered her lips, taking notice to the absence of white makeup that usually covered Shin whores like a clay mask. 

      He found that he rather enjoyed her absence of that mask, and for once he was finally able to see the woman beneath the whore. 

      "Would you like to come with me?" He wasn't certain what he was asking, but every time she was near it was as if he had lost sense to reason. 

      It was foolish, the very notion of taking a whore from Shin into the palace of Qui. He would have trouble making it past the hundred steps into the castle. However, he asked anyway because he had nearly forgotten what it was like to live without her eyes in his life.

      "That is a foolish question," she agreed with his silent thought.

      "You make me into a foolish man," he told her, barely taking notice to the way her lips slightly curled into a smile before she covered it with another sip of her tea.

      "Surely you know I cannot leave this brothel," she informed him, and he nearly scoffed.

      "I have an army," he told her in return. If Wuhan had not already sullied his name and disgraced the Royal guard, Jun never would have asked her to join him for fear of the repercussions upon his return. Or perhaps that was a lie and with just one word from this woman he might have leveled this brothel to the ground just to see her smile.

      "You do not know what you are asking," she informed him, and he thought for a moment that she was right. He didn't know what he was doing and he hadn't since the moment she placed that flower into his hair. 

      "I think I am in love with you," he told her and he noticed her eyes slightly widen before she tilted her head to the side.

      "You don't even know me," she told him, but she leaned forward against the table nonetheless. 

      "It doesn't matter," he told her in return, and his hand wrapped around the back of her neck to bring her forward. "Can I kiss you?"

      "You paid for me," she reminded him. "You don't have to ask."

      "I am asking if I, Fong Jun, can kiss you, Shiragiku the woman. Not Shiragiku the whore," he asked her permission, staring deep into her her eyes and waited for any sign of consent as their bodies leaned over the wooden table. 

      She smelled like strawberries. He noticed that when she slightly nodded her head, as if she were nervous when he brought his lips to hers. He barely remembered knocking over the tea and the table as he crushed her body closer to hers and flatting her back against the ground. He knocked out all her pins, letting that beautiful ink black hair crush against the ground as he trapped her in his arms.

      When he saw her face flush and her eyes widen, he wondered for a moment if he wasn't the only one who felt the spark and the heat when he touched her. He crushed her close once more, hiking her kimono up as he undid his trousers.

      "Do you really love me?" she asked just before he could kiss her again.

      "I do," he said this without hesitation, taking no notice to the way her eyes began to gloss over.

      "Thank you for loving me," she whispered, leaning up and kissing him.

      He felt something claw through his chest and when he looked down, he saw Shiragiku's hand cup his middle, her fingers digging through his skin slow as blood began to drip down the pale skin of her palm. She did it slow, as if she wanted to savour the moment before her hand flushed through his chest.

Author's Note

I wanted to kill his character from day one to be honest. He is so not the main love interest and neither is he my main character. Now the real story will begin.

Thank you for reading.