Cut From A Tattered Cloth

Chapter 7

Eijiro needed a drink.

He knew he shouldn't, especially after meeting up with his sister. Eijiro hadn't seen Sayuri since she was seven years old. When he left Hyounokuni, Eijiro thought he would never see her again; oftentimes he wondered if she would even remember she had a brother.

Given the way that she wrinkled her nose and spat his name with distaste, Sayuri definitely remembered having a brother. Only instead of remembering all the sacrifices Eijiro had made for her, she only remembered him leaving.

Eijiro swallowed hard. He really needed a drink.

Sayuri's right hand attendant, Dokushima Kaori, was explaining their most recent assassination attempt at the East Aeroport terminal. She had a lock of white hair that framed the right side of her face, which she tucked behind her ear as she spoke.

"We heard five shots go off," she said in perfect Zaramian. "Bullet casings and slugs are from a Gilguran rifle, but the model is used throughout the West."

"Gilgur?" Melia's brow furrowed. "North country?"

Kaori nodded. "Naturally, we wondered if Gilgur was behind it, but received word from their Prime Minister that if any Gilgurans were involved, it was not a sanctioned attack. And given that the Gilgur's main export is its artillery, it seemed too soon for us to zero in on them as potential subjects."

Gilgur shared the northern border with Zaram. Geographically, the country was large, occupying the entire subcontinent in the north. But the population was small, and only had a couple thousand more than Capitol City. Apparently the Gilguran subcontinent was originally meant to be part of Zaram, but a civil disagreement led to the development of two countries instead of one.

Melia started tracing her finger on the table. Tiny wildflowers bloomed where she wrote, making notes for her. She pressed a finger to her nose, thinking.

"When this happened?" she asked. "Gilgur bullets?"

"Two days ago," Kaori said promptly.

Eijiro felt a part of himself wilt. Sayuri had been in Zaram for two days? And she never thought to come to him?

Melia's frown deepened. "Why wait two days for help? If shot at again, then what?"

Sayuri's left hand attendant, Tsuchiya Honoka, scoffed. "Sore wo anntatachi to kankenai," she snapped. That's got nothing to do with you.

Melia raised an eyebrow. "Seeing that you're in our home and asking for our help, I'd say it has something to do with us." She looked from Kaori to Sayuri. "Why wait?"

Kaori glanced at her mistress, who pursed her lips. Her eyes flicked to Kairos, so fast that Eijiro might not have noticed if he wasn't looking at her when she did it.

"It's because of the peace conference," Kelly said.

Everyone stared at him. Kairos looked exasperated, as though Kelly wasn't supposed to say that.

Kelly shrugged. "You took too long, you know?"

Sayuri rolled her eyes. "That's because we weren't supposed to talk about it. Remember how we decided that we didn't want the attacks tied to the IPC?"

Eijiro had forgotten about the IPC. That was coming up quick—in two or three weeks, if he remembered right.

A global event held once a year, the International Peace Conference was where leaders of the twelve most powerful nations met to discuss their affairs, and see how they might help one another towards their mutual mission of global peace. Zaram, vying for the role of the western world superpower, was almost always invited. And Hyounokuni, a land that prided itself on its warrior class, went every year.