When I saw his silhouette backlit by the morning sun, I started, involuntarily rising up out of the water.

But no. I stopped, shrank back.

This man was a stranger.

“Suddenly you’re shy?” he said, obviously amused.

“I was expecting,” I hesitated, “the Princess.”

He laughed aloud.

“This will be the first time I have ever been mistaken for a princess.” He folded his hands behind his neck in a bold display of the obvious distinctions.

“I am very sorry. There is a misunderstanding. Her Highness will be waiting for me,” I moved to the edge of the pool, but he was already wading in.

“By now the Princess and her party are half way down the mountainside.”

“But she can’t—I have to…” I stumbled as I spoke.

“She’s royalty. She can do whatever she wants, but I will confess to you now: we had an agreement.”

“What was your agreement?” I asked, scarcely daring the question.

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“It concerned you.”

“Please explain. No one has bothered to tell me the details of this arrangement.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Was it only a verbal agreement? Who gave it to you?”

The Shogun’s heir grinned. “Agreements between Emperors and The Ruling House are always binding. You are mine now. We are wed.”

I shivered. “What?”

“You don’t know?” The surprise in his expression couldn’t have been feigned.

He lifted his chin. “I am Shinichi Okugawa. First born of Akihiro.”

I had imagined myself a weapon in the hands of revolutionaries, and accordingly, believed there would be some kind of a struggle with this very man. But Okugawa looked at me as his prize. Held me out as a possession harmless to him. He wouldn’t know to defend himself. He would never have a chance.

I stammered, “You married a wife only recently.”

He nodded. “And you have the blessing of being my concubine.”

I ought to have bowed. Reigi demanded it. I froze, though my mind calculated. Could I save him? I was not even sure I wanted to. Save him to become his concubine?

He sensed my fear, but misunderstood it, believing my hesitation was due to maidenly modesty. It was much more than that.

The Okugawa heir was so much younger than I had imagined—his face almost boyish. I could hardly imagine him at the head of his father’s army.

“I see you are surprised, but you’ll be very happy at Western Capital. I will deny you nothing.”

It might be true. For the first time in my life I tasted the heady belief that the highest in the land really could and would give me almost anything I asked for.

“You don’t understand, Your Majesty,” I bit my lip, unsure how to act and reluctant to commit another killing. “I’m unworthy of this honor.”

He frowned.

“Do you still fail to comprehend? You are the daughter of Orihime. I will raise you to your rightful throne on earth. No one will question your paternity when you arrive at court.” Then he reached for me with arms already stained red by the water’s heat.

This was the beginning of a long, drawn out assassination.