Himitsu (Book One of the Kakureta Hana series)

VIII: Hachi

Emi smiles from the porch when we locate the house that she directed Ryuu to find her at. My husband helps me down from my horse before folding my hand in his to help me up the steps. My body has grown unused to sleeping on the ground, and the added instability of my swollen stomach leaves me at a risk of falling.

"You look well," the shinobi says, reaching for my arm. "And I am glad that the weather held out on its fury for the time. I do believe that the coming winter promises to be a difficult one for traveling."

Ryuu squints up at the sky, likely wondering what had prompted such an idea, before shaking his head slightly. "Do you mind settling Sakura somewhere while I take care of the horses?"

"Of course not. Come inside once you have finished; we have much to discuss before you return to the clan." Emi tucks my arm into the crook of her elbow and leads me inside. "This is where I have been staying since I came here. Do you like it?"

I glance around the room as I settle myself upon the pillow that she indicates. It is simply decorated with a few plants and a framed painting. "It is a lovely home. What are you going to do with it when you return back to your clan though?"

She laughs, handing me a tea bowl. "Consider it a wedding gift. It shall be large enough with four sleeping rooms, and the Amachi fortress is only a few minutes walk from here."

"What? No, Emi, we cannot possibly live here. Taro is going to expect that Ryuu and I will be living in the general's rooms, not elsewhere." I look around at what little of the house I can see from my position. "It is too much anyway. We cannot accept this."

Emi lowers herself onto the floor across from me, merriment erased from her face. "You will be safer here, Sakura. There is no chance that you will be able to keep your secret within the walls of the Amachi fortress especially with the traitor watching your every move."

"The traitor would no longer be a problem if you would merely reveal their identity," Ryuu answers from the doorway. "There is not one in the clan that would dare to harm either one of us if they knew I was watching their every move."

"It is best that their identity remains hidden behind my lips for now."

Ryuu sits next to me, curving an arm around me. "Why, Emi? Why is it such a major thing that you not tell me who the traitor is?"

The shinobi does not answer immediately, choosing instead to raise her bowl to her lips calmly. "Can you not trust me that I understand what I am doing? To tell you everything that you wish to know right now will lead to the death of your child as well as that of Rika's and Jun's. Now, I insist that you proceed as if you are merely relieved to be home and that you accept my offer of this house."

"Taro..." Ryuu begins.

"Forget Taro!" Emi exclaims, her eyes flashing. "He will understand how it is to be newly wedded and want some privacy. Besides, this house is not that far away from where you would be staying within the walls of the fortress. Here will be safer for the two of you, and I will be staying here as often as I can, so Sakura will not be alone when you have to return to the battlefield. Just say all right and leave well enough be."

She rises and paces the length of the room, tension rippling across her skin. "These are dangerous times for you, and if you insist in your stubbornness to return to the fortress, knowing full well that the traitor would be able to kill you both with little effort, I will allow you to leave. That sort of thinking was what almost got Junichi and Rika killed over a year ago, and it will leave both of you in your graves now."

"Emi," I say, managing to get to my feet, "are you sure that this person will not be able to kill us here just as easily, if not easier, as they would at the fortress? At least there, we will be surrounded by retainers at all times."