Sword Dance

R A I G A R

As promised Josei was right where he’d left the man. Sayaka paused on the threshold of the house, seeing her grandfather waiting for them. He coaxed her forward into the wide front room, getting them both in out of the growing damp. Staring between the pair, quite possibly two of the most important people in his life-to-come, Raigar felt a little at a loss. He was no orator, even on his best days, and the magnitude of the task ahead of him was a little daunting. At least he was well rested, he told himself with grim amusement. “Perhaps, this conversation would be best done at the table…” He looked to the old man for inspiration.

“Perhaps.” The samurai agreed slowly. “But it would seem to me, that the logical place to start, would be _here_.” He pointed at the boxes.

Sayaka stared between them, puzzled. “What is going on. Beloved?” She touched his arm when he shrugged, not knowing where precisely be begin. At the beginning, he told himself. But even so, it wasn’t that easy.

“I-” He sighed at how awkward it all was. “I brought you a gift, Sayaka. It is customary, in London, that a man wishing for the good-opinion of a woman, to give her some… proof, of his affection. Although in this case, I think it might also qualify as an apology. For my brother’s folly during the war, and for my King’s weakness… and… for myself... I know you will probably feel, that it is too much. And that you must not accept. But I assure you… I brought it here for no other reason, than to give to you. If you do not want it… well, it is yours to give away.”

“I don’t understand.” Sayaka blinked at him, trying to decipher his rambling. “What is it that you want to give me, that you do not think I will accept?”

“My life.” He joked softly. In saying it, he wondered if perhaps it wasn’t a joke after all. In a sense the accumulation of wealth he’d gathered in strongboxes _was_ the culmination of a lifetime’s effort. Some inherited, some earned, some won in battle, the fortune had a history behind it. Gesturing to the boxes, he let her know that she might investigate for herself. “It is yours. Regardless of what happens. If we wed. If we don’t. If I die tomorrow, or in fifty years… It is yours, unrestrictedly. That is my oath.”

She gave him another strange look, stepping towards the cases hesitantly. “You’re life…? You speak in riddles, beloved.”

Sayaka lifted the lid on the first box and glimpsing the glittering pile within dropped it back into place in shock. Taking a breath, she reached out and flipped the lid all the way open as if expecting it to bite. Raigar had to smile at the way she pressed her fingers to her lips, eyes wide in amazement as she stared at his treasure. Her grandfather sighed when it became apparent she was too stunned to do more than stare at the one box, shifting to prod the others open with the foot of his stick. Sayaka backed away from the boxes in silent shock.

“It appears, grand daughter, that you are now the wealthiest woman in the village.” Her relative teased gently, navigating to the door to slide it closed and give them some privacy with their treasure. “God knows where we are going to hide it all, I think some of it will by necessity have to go to the moneylenders in the city, or we’ll be pulling ninjas and sneaks out of the roof-thatch every night for the next 20 years.”

“Blessed mountains and rivers…” She found her voice at last. Raigar moved to stand behind her, encouraging her to lean against him again as she struggled to overcome her sudden surprise. Reaching up to catch his fingers in hers as he held her shoulders, she squeezed them urgently. “Raigar… what… _how_... I cannot… possibly… accept this.”

“You must.” He disagreed softly. “For I will not take it back again. Find some reason that will satisfy your honor, if you cannot accept it for its own sake, but do not try and tell me that you do not deserve such gift.”

“So many coins…” She marveled weakly, gaining courage she stepped forward to stir the nearest chest with her finger. “The box is full to the bottom!” She pulled her hand back, aghast to stare up at him.

Raigar had to laugh at that, the simple wonder in her statement beyond anything he could have anticipated. “Of course. Did you think I’d fill treasure boxes with paper and then lay the gold on top?”

“I… I don’t know…” She returned to his arms, needing reassurance again. “Raigar how did you come by all of this? Was it some sort of reward? For the Queen of Ice?”

“I didn’t rob a London Stagecoach, if that’s what you’re asking.” He chuckled, hugging her. It said a lot about her grandfather’s preoccupation with the newfound wealth that the old man didn’t scold his affectionate gesture. Sayaka likewise, was too discomfited to be concerned with keeping proper distance. Reaching up, she caught his cheek with one of her hands, searching his face earnestly. He tilted his head slightly in order to catch her fingers with a kiss. “It came from many different places, Sayaka, not the least of which… is that I sold my land.”

He marveled at how she managed to grow even more wide-eyed than she had been already. “You sold…” The idea of relinquishing property, for a citizen of Kyoto, was tantamount to blasphemy, he knew. In a part of the world where every square meter of useable earth was fought for against woods, marshes and mountains, the idea of a person letting go of the resource, for any price, was madness. She shook her head in disbelief. “Why?!”
“Because I had no intention of using it.” He caught her fingers, where they lay absently against his shoulder, and kissed them lightly. “Better that it have a new master, with some intention of working with it, than for it to lay fallow and forgotten by me for another decade. It could hardly travel with me, and the gold will be far more useful, I thought.”

“You had land in London City…” She stared at him, brows furrowing. “A great deal of land?” Sayaka eyed the chests again. “Raigar…”

“Why not just rent it out?” Her grandfather mused, ever practical.

“And who would be my manager, while I am away?” He replied, gathering Sayaka’s unresisting body into his arms again. “A good landlord does not leave his tenants in the hands of a manager without any sort of supervision. I’d be obliged to go back at least once a year to check his work… And I have no particular notion of ever going back to London, much less taking such a long trip so often as that. I wish to concentrate on Sayaka, not on navigating the canyons every few months.”

“And the new owners, do you think they will do right by your land?” The old man gave him an arch look.

“They certainly can’t do any worse than my father or I did.” Raigar shrugged.

“Eight boxes full.” Josei shook his head, considering the trove. “That is a lot of land, ox-boy, even if it isn’t of top quality. Do I dare ask what the final summation is?”

“Roughly four hundred and eighty thousand.” He felt Sayaka’s fingers tighten on his arm as he voiced the total. Her grandfather’s lips moved silently, echoing his answer in silent disbelief. “It wasn’t all land, mind you. Some was rewards given for various services to the crown, some has been in my family for years… some came of selling off the house and furnishings…”

“You sold your home?” She turned back to him to press her face against his chest, clinging to his coat as she hid from the unwanted wealth. “Raigar, you shouldn’t have sold your home… the place you were _born_...”

“What good is a home, if there is noone left to live in it?” He murmured, cradling her close. “My parents are both long dead, Sayaka, my brother… I have spent my whole life on the road for one reason or another. Those servants that were left barely knew me. It was nolonger the home I remembered from childhood. And as I had no intention of ever compelling you to become mistress of such a lonely empty space, why should I cling to it?”

Tilting her face up to look her in the eye, he let his fingers drift across her cheek. “You are all I have, pretty flower. All I want. All I need. You would not be happy in London City. We both knew this from the beginning. Why then should it worry you that I wished to cut my ties to the place?”

“Were… were you _very_ rich, beloved?” She caught his hand in hers, looking distressed as she pressed his palm against her cheek. “You had servants… land… I… I didn’t know.”

“There was no reason for you to know.” He petted her hair back from her face with his free hand. Glancing over to her grandfather he nodded that the boxes might as well be sealed again. “Perhaps now we might sit down? It grows late.”

“I think some plum wine might be in order as well.” The old man claimed a few coins from one of the trunks before shutting the lids. At Sayaka’s accusing look, he shrugged prosaically. “At the very least we have no need to economize _this week_, surely, woman. We can discuss what is to be done with the trove as events progress, but in the meantime, I shall buy us some chickens, and a good supply of wine to fortify ourselves with against the frustrations to come.”

“I would be honored to cover the cost of my meals, at the very least.” Raigar agreed before Sayaka could protest. “And I think I could use a little wine myself, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“Listen to your future husband, girl.” Her grandfather cut off her last attempt at refusing the simple assistance. “For once he’s speaking sensibly. Don’t discourage him.”

“I’ll- I’ll go heat the wine.” She relented at last, pushing away from him to step softly up into the house. Raigar frowned at the way she refused to meet his eye as she made her escape. She may have been cowed into not resisting the gift, but she had not yet accepted it either. He sighed and followed the old man up the stairs and after her. Sayaka moved swiftly and assuredly around the room, lips pressed tightly together as she readied cups and warmed a bottle over the brazier in the traditional way. Placing it in front of her grandfather to pour, she settled herself beside the old man with silent decorum, still looking everywhere but in his direction. For all he wasn’t surprised at her sudden coolness, Raigar felt the loss of her recent comfortable intimacy. He highly doubted Sayaka would be leaning against his shoulder again any time soon.

Turning his cup in his hands, master Josei gave it, and then him, a considering look. “It occurs to me, ox-boy, that this question is several years over due… but I must ask it never the less… You are the Green Lion of London, a warlord, a London City samurai captain… You are the brother of Ooka the Butcher…these things we have always known… but really, other than that, my granddaughter has told me very little. Who are you? Who are your people? I realize that you are the last of your house, but still, I would know your origins, if you would be so kind as to tell me.”

“My family- has served the Kings of London City for thirteen generations.” He rubbed his head, wishing the wine were stronger, or that the cups were not so small. Josei seemed to understand, pouring him another cup unasked. “For as long as there has _been_ a London City, we have served as Champions, in one form or another, I think. Dating all the way back to the wars… Not that we’ve had an un-paralleled run, like all families, we’ve had our ups, and downs. My great-great grandfather was a notorious gambler, I’m told. Nearly bankrupted us… But we persevered… My father was particularly proud of our heritage. When my brother and I were very young, he would tell us stories of our family’s greatest glories, in the hopes of inspiring us to likewise achieve greatness. I showed promise from an early age, larger and stronger than the other boys… even then. My brother… I wonder if even then he was frustrated by me… I never realized it. If anything I envied him. He was our mother’s favorite. I am told my birth was particularly difficult for her, and the servants used to say she was never able to be easy around me, due to the memory of it… I think perhaps that it was more… she knew I was the one my father intended to mould into a knight in his image from the very beginning… and she surrendered her claim on me in favor of my brother whom she was allowed the luxury of time with. My father… was a very honorable man. But… he was not… a warm, or loving husband. As a child I strove to earn his approval, but, in the end, I am not sure if I ever actually was what he wanted me to be.”

He felt Sayaka’s fingers on the back of his hand, and looking up found she had relaxed her disapproval enough to reach out to him, expression sorrowful as she tried to offer her support. Letting go of his cup, he twisted his hand to catch hold of her instead, smiling briefly. “This is all ancient history, of course. He died when I was nine, or ten, quite suddenly. At the time I was driven to finish the training that he’d started me on, to be not just a Knight, but the greatest swordsman in the world, to honor his memory, and to heighten the glory of my family. I petitioned the King, and my mother, to let me travel in order to train further, and I was apprenticed to the wandering sword master Geoff-the-Eagle. I studied under him for three years in the grasslands, and from there I traveled at random learning of the world… At length I came upon the Sage’s tower in the desert, and somehow convinced her to take me as an apprentice. Those were perhaps the hardest four years of my life, even to this day.”

He smiled again at the simple insanity of his daily ordeal in the tower. “She was _not_ an easy master, but I did learn a great deal.”

“You ran away from her, as I recall.” Jose snorted in amusement.

“I did.” He accepted another cup of wine, feeling its warmth seeping into his bones. “She told me after all that time, that it’d be another ten years at least before she found me worthy of being so much as a journeyman under her tutelage, and I confess, my nerve broke. I wanted to see London City again before I was an old man. So I snuck out one night while she was at work in her forge, and made my way across the desert towards what looked like water… And that’s how Sayaka found me, those many years ago, on my knees in the mud trying to slake a thirst that had been growing for days.”

“Anyone else would have died, wandering the desert with no map with only a sword and the clothes on his back.” She shook her head at the memory. “You were as red as a fire flower. And sun-dazed, as well.”

“I’d never in my life come to a place so green.” He agreed softly, squeezing her fingers. “I may have had both house and lands in London, Sayaka but if you had seen them, I don’t imagine you would have been pleased. The forests that used to cool the land had been felled decades before my birth, the streams and rivers re-routed to the central reservoir, to keep the Fire Lord entombed… It is a dusty, dry, mournful landscape that I come from. I confess, I soon forgot all about going home in my time here. There was so much to learn, and for once, I was happy…”

“But go back you did.” Josei rested his chin on his hand. “And reunited with your family…”

“My mother had become far weaker in my absence. I think Ooka blamed me for that too, but I wonder if it was inevitable with my father’s death that she faded… He’d been training to be a Knight as well, but in the City. When I returned, it was natural that I take over from him as head of house, and then in the annual tourney I bested his teachers and was appointed Knight of the realm ahead of him… It was only natural, having trained both here and with the Sage for years, but he must have taken it to heart, despite his kind words at the time.”

“You have a title.” Sayaka’s grandfather mused. “You must, if your family is so old, a nobleman-samurai, I’ve heard such things are common outside of Kyoto.”

“I was a Viscount.” He smiled at how little use he’d ever had for the patents of his nobility. First a grand champion of the tourney, and soon Captain of the Royal Knights, he’d rarely needed to lean on his loftier titles for much. The games of courtiers had bored him by in large. Seeing the old man’s lack of comprehension, he gazed ceiling ward, trying to remember the order of precedence that had been drilled into him by childhood tutors. “It falls somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy. There were maybe twelve men at court that could order me to bow down if they wished, other than the king. But I in turn could have commanded twenty others to do the same for me. My title ensured me tithe… income… from lords who lived theoretically under my protection, and I was responsible for redistributing their lands amongst them should one of their families die out with no clear course of succession.”

“But you were not, for example, in line for the throne yourself.”

“Not without considerable upheaval in the ranks above me.” Raigar rubbed the back of his head.

“Or perhaps an advantageous marriage?” The old man asked archly. “The lady Karen, she was not ill favored…”

“Grandfather…” Sayaka scolded softly. Raigar squeezed her fingers again, reassuring her when she looked hesitantly in his direction.

“Even if I had not dandled Lady Karen on my knee when she was but a child, I would still have had no interest in her as a wife.” He answered her grandfather’s question, but didn’t take his eyes off of her. She flushed slowly under his gaze. “My heart was pledged elsewhere years before she came of age.”

“What a supid ox-boy you are.” Josei sighed in mock despair. “Choosing a poor samurai’s daughter when you might have married and become Shogun of London City by now…”

“Prince Regent.” He corrected idly, stroking Sayaka’s fingers with his thumb. “And I don’t think I’d have cared for the post much. Lady Karen is a very handsome girl, but… I found taking care of her to be very tiring. I do not think we would have made a good match. She needs someone younger, more able to take pleasure in her sudden moods and wild schemes. Besides, as Regent, I would be obliged to put my sword up and spend my time at court instead of in the field. Regular noblemen might be expected to be Knights, but Regents are too valuable to risk in a fight.”

“I cannot imagine you as a courtier, beloved.”

“Indeed, I have little patience for such things.” He agreed, pleased to have her smiling at him again. “So in preparing to leave, I gathered together such things as might be of value to those who would stay at court, and arranged for them to be sold. My title was bought by the crown, and will likely be given to some worthy individual. My home and lands likewise, went to a man with much worth, but no homestead of his own. Arms, armor, trophies, all the accrued nonsense that thirteen generations had amassed, I pared down to what little held meaning for me. The rest? I let go.”

Giving Sayaka a smile he shrugged. “It’s not _all_ gold. There are some random things in the cases at the bottom that are of… sentimental value to me, a few items that might interest you as well… remembrances of my mother…”

“I should like to see them.” She agreed softly.

“I am not a nobleman anymore, Sayaka.” He reached across the table with his other hand catching hold of her under her guardian’s watchful eye. “Everything I ever had in London, that I had any use for, is now here, with you.”

“Yes.” Sayaka nodded, gripping him tightly in return, “But beloved… I do not need such a treasure… I wouldn’t know what to do with it! Just having it in the house is enough to make me shake. Grandfather is right, we will never have a moment’s peace until it is hidden away.”

“We’ll tuck it beneath the floor of the storeroom for the moment.” He encouraged her as best he could. “As for the long term, if you’d be open to a suggestion from me on how to spend your fortune…”

His fiancé looked askance at him. “It isn’t _my_ fortune, Raigar.”

“You are my wife. Or at least you will be.” He moderated, seeing Josei’s look as though he might voice a complaint at his assumption. “It is most certainly yours.”

“What would you do with it, then.” Sayaka sighed, defeated.

“Tell me, before the old Shogun died…” Raigar looked to the old man. “There was a nobleman whose son was killed by a stray arrow in a hunting accident, was there not? I remember at the time that there was some talk of the other man, a noble in his own right, offering to kill himself in a ritual to readdress his crime.”

Josei frowned, looking at his cup as he searched his memories. “You’re thinking of Lord Sano and Lord Hiranagi. It was Hiranagi’s son that died. The two were, and still are, very close friends despite the accident.”

“And wasn’t it the case that instead of suicide, Sano was charged to pay a vast sum to discharge his shame? That they set a price for the son his friend lost? I remember it was outrageously high, something like a hundred thousand.”

Sayaka nodded thoughtfully, also remembering the incident from their time as students together. “It was very nearly all that Lord Sano had, which I suppose was the point.”

“Yes. He sacrificed his ‘life’ in a monetary sense, rather than in a real one.” Her grandfather nodded thoughtfully, and then caught on with a startled look. “You were serious, before? You intend to _buy_ your way into court favor?”

“My crime is the near-destruction of Iwato eleven years ago, and the portions of the city I lay siege to… How much do you think it would cost to pay reparations for such things?” Raigar smiled at his woman’s look of amazement.

“Raigar you can’t be serious.” She breathed.

Her grandfather nodded. “More than you’ve got, ox-boy. Well, no, not entirely. Iwato alone? That might be negotiated in good faith at under two-hundred, but when taking into account all the sons lost? The city-folk especially, would set the price high enough that even your trove would be exhausted in no time.”

“A single soldier is not responsible for the actions of his king.” Sayaka protested to her parent, frowning as she thought it through. “He’d only be responsible for those lives he took directly…”

“And the lives those under his command took.” Josei argued in return. “He was Captain of a considerable force, do not forget.”

“He sued for peace at every opportunity.” She reminded the old man. “We chose not to surrender, but he _did_ ask. He was as honorable as possible, given his orders.”

“I doubt people will see it that way.” Her grandfather sighed. “Still. There is something in the idea… If the new Shogun could be persuaded to set a price that both sounds outrageous, and yet leaves something leftover to settle on you, girl, then I would not be opposed. If it is not put to the public beforehand, but is simply announced, Raigar shall pay thus-and-so to the people of Kyoto in recompense for his actions against us and in order to live in Iwato village… they might be dazzled by the total, and not bother to do the math.”

Pushing himself to his feet he braced his hands on his back, grumbling at his tired muscles. “And now I think it is time for this old man to retire. “Ox-boy, since you have only just gotten up, I expect you to deal with those boxes before you lay down again. Sayaka, you’re welcome to supervise so that the fool doesn’t block the door or anything else of importance?”

“We’ll take care of it, grandfather.” She gathered up the cups and set them aside. “Sleep well.”

“You, I expect to be awake and ready to present yourself at least in the village, tomorrow.” The old man turned to Raigar with a sardonic look. “No more oversleeping. I catch you lazing about anymore and I’m going to jab you with my stick.” He raised his staff threateningly. “You want people to take your side? You have to work the crowd a little…”

Raigar rubbed the back of his head in guilty acknowledgment of his recent misbehavior. “Yes, Master Josei.”