Kaguta - Or, Ankūro - The Warrior, The Thief and The Killer

11

Kō

A star glints above.
Does it lead the traveller?
Or hide the true way?
- Bushubō.

The castle, like any other, had a design based upon keeping out large forces. The architect had made the same mistakes as she had seen in her brother's fortress in Akāi. A lone intruder could find easy spots to hide. To flit from shadow to shadow, evading all but the most observant of patrolling soldiers. Kō, of course, made it seem easier than it looked, however.

Usonishu had died, choking on his own blood. The cut made in such a way that the blood coursed into his lungs, stopping any chance of him calling out, or surviving. She had watched him struggle to breathe, hands clutching towards his throat as he realised she had lied to him. She never had any intention of letting him live.

He didn't have as much information as he had intimated that he had. Knowing only that Ginka survived and that they had brought him to this fortress city on the edge of the Imperial region. And a name. Hitimoshu Gunoē. Gunoē had escorted Ginka to the Imperial region under the most strict secrecy. A secrecy that Usonishu broke at the first sign that his life lay in the balance.

She had left Kiriho and the child in an inn, outside the gates of the castle. For two weeks they had travelled a weaving, circuitous path to this city, Numōshu, one of many fortress cities that circled the border of Junawa, the better to protect the Emperor, Numōshu seemed an odd place to bring Ginka. Kō would have thought a city on the northern border more appropriate, but Usonishu had not lied. He dared not.

Gunoē had his quarters near the very top of the castle. A place of privilege for the Governor of the city, but that would not keep Kō from finding him. Dressed in tight, dark grey clothing, her face and shaved head covered by a strip of the same cloth, she made her way from one dark corner to another. She prayed to the Divines that she would not have to kill to reach her prey.

Not that she cared if any of these soldiers, guards or servants died, they had all played a part, however small, in the horrors at Akāi. Whether as willing participants, or as silent observers from afar. They each shouldered some of the blame. Lucky for them, none were on her list, or this night would suffer more than the death of Hitimoshu Gunoē.

The last part of her infiltration, she would have to take a greater risk. The only ways in to the main structure of the castle were all well guarded. Unless she fought her way to Gunoē, she could not take conventional means to reach his rooms, high above. That left only the sloping, high walls to pass, but she had prepared for this.

In the shadows of a dark corner, she unfolded the package that she had tied to her back, revealing the set of climbing claws. In her life, she had come to know cities better than most of the noble classes. From a young age, she had explored the darker, dirtier areas of Akāi, getting to know those in the lower classes. Every city had its underclass. Thieves, brawlers, killers. They tried to skulk out of sight, but that only brought attention to them.

A few whispered words and the odd Inū coin and she had found the right people. The kind of people that would sell things at the right price. The kind of people that never asked questions, nor answered them. The climbing claws were easy to purchase and she soon had them tied to her feet and hands.

Pressing herself against the high wall of the keep, she began her ascent. The large stones that made the structure of the wall, despite their precise construction, still had faults. Gaps between the stones. Blemishes in the surfaces. The climbing claws found every crack, every gap and every protruding bobble. Her dark grey clothing made her almost disappear against those stones, in the darkness of night, where black clothes would have stood out.