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. 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. At forty-eight, however many times I'd gone over the plan in my head. Once real flames actually surrounded me, this body shook just as honestly as ever.
But at the very bottom of that shaking.
I was thinking, terribly calmly.
Ah. So it's come after all.
It had come.
The night Mitsuhide and I had put together.
Bellflower banners. Akechi had surrounded the temple, as promised. Set it on fire, as promised.
Everything was going according to plan.
"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.
Yes, it's Mitsuhide. That worn-down man who laughed while crying, my partner, one of the two who wanted to get down. You took on that hard role. Well done.
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. Even when you know, it's scary. Even knowing it's an act, real flames burn your cheeks with real heat.
"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.
And what I'm about to do now.
Isn't the Demon King's last stand.
It's just a cowardly man's. World's most ridiculous escape.
The flames began to lick at the end of the corridor. Heat stroked my cheek. The smoke tasted bitter at the back of my throat.
I stood and reached for the bow hanging on the wall. My fingers were still shaking.
From the inner room came the rustle of silk. I could feel her—Kicho—holding her breath, watching me.
—It's all right. I'll be right there.
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.