War cries woke me.
It was not yet dawn. Beyond the shoji, the light was strangely bright.
Not the sunrise.
Fire.
Arrows whistled through the garden, one after another, after another. Horses screamed. Armor scraped. Countless feet pounded the earth. And it came from every side, a ring closed tight around the temple.
Surrounded.
A chill slid down my spine. Sweat beaded slick in my palms. I was afraid. My heart thrashed inside my ribs. My throat went bone-dry. My breath came shallow. I could feel the blood draining all the way to my fingertips.
For forty-eight years I had lived in dread of the day this would come. And still, now that it had, this was the state my body was in.
Ah. So it's come after all.
"My lord! My lord, wake up!"
Footsteps came running down the corridor. The one who threw the sliding door wide and burst in was Ranmaru. His face was white as paper, his voice cracking.
"It is rebellion! Enemy soldiers all around the temple! Those are—those are Akechi's bellflower banners!"
Akechi.
Mitsuhide.
I see, I thought. Somewhere deep in my chest, very quietly, I thought it.
And yet my knees were shaking. My teeth wouldn't stop chattering. What frightens me has always frightened me, no matter how much time goes by. Forty-eight years old, and I still couldn't tame this one body of mine.
"My lord..."
Ranmaru was looking up at me with pleading eyes. I was sure the boy believed I was about to make some staggering move. That the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven would laugh in the flames and cut the enemy down in one great sweep.
That's not it.
I'm just a man who's scared.
I always have been.
The flames began to lick at the end of the corridor. Heat stroked my cheek. The fine hairs on my skin crackled and singed. The smoke tasted bitter at the back of my throat. Something ached behind my eyes, and my sight blurred.
The war cries outside rose higher. Someone was shouting, "Take his head!" At that voice, my knees started to buckle again.
I stood and reached for the bow hanging on the wall. My fingers were still shaking. Even when I tried to grip it, the strength wouldn't come.
From the inner room came the rustle of silk. I could feel her there, holding her breath, watching me.
—It's all right.
I told her so with my eyes alone.
"My lord, what will you do? Give us your orders," Ranmaru asked.
I tightened my grip on the bow. Beyond the flames, I fixed my eyes on the mass of bellflower banners.
I had already decided what I would say.