"The Red Spider killed everyone," Janna said, "I know I should have returned to the village, but I was ashamed."

"We don’t care about the Spider." Hago said. "We want Shishio and the border guardian. We know you were working with them."

Janna was sitting on her heels in a large room lit only by a shaded lantern that bathed her in light while leaving all else concealed. Her interrogator stood over her holding the lantern, but she knew that they were not alone. She had heard rustling in the dark. Hago was a broad shouldered two-star with a falchion at his belt and scars criss-crossing his face. From the way he was standing, it was clear that he favored one side.

Lady Makoto had sent word to keep an eye out for thieves from Fringe Village, and this one had practically fallen into their laps, marks and all. Hago had found her in the guild house after she’d been spotted observing someone else’s test in the arena. She also happened to be in possession of more money that a girl like her could ever lawfully earn.

"I apologize, senior," Janna tapped her forehead on the floor. "They are not with me. I have not seen the elder Makoto since he sent me up the mountain."

"What were you doing at the Starfox Guild?"

"I have recently learned my first elemental technique."

"You thought they would give you a star?" Hago scoffed. "A thief like you? You only advanced by enjoying what was not yours to enjoy. You will be a Soga servant if you are lucky, likely you will never see your home again. But first we must know what you know."

"Senior, again I apologize…" She still had her face to the ground. He tapped her shoulder with his foot hard enough to knock her onto her side.

"Enough of that," he said, grimacing. He had pain in his back and hip from an old injury that had healed improperly, and using his leg like that had caused it to flare. "I will not accept these lies."

"We are looking for the others, and when we find them, it will go worse for you if you do not help us."

Janna said nothing. In truth, Hago had very little information, as the message Lady Makoto had sent ahead of her was vague, but it had come with sketches and strict instructions not to kill the border guardian or the Shishio character before she had a chance to interrogate them herself. Of course, that meant this one was fair game, but Hago took no particular joy in killing starless girls. In any case, if he killed her without good reason, there would still be a matter of debt to resolve. As long as she had that mark on her arm, she was property, and property had value. You couldn’t go around killing other people’s property. The money she had wasn’t enough to erase the debt, and he was considering keeping it himself.

"I will give you a little time to think," he said, "and when I return, if you have not become wiser, I will break your feet. That is the proper treatment for a runaway thief in any case."

He left her in the dark.

********

There were no windows in that room, but when the door shut behind him, Janna still had the sense that there were others in there with her, waiting for what—she did not know. Whoever they were, they did not speak. Her shoulder ached, but she steeled herself against her fear, and sought the peace of meditation. For whatever reason, her captors had not bothered to ask around the guild for who she was with, and they had not even noticed Karasu, perhaps assuming she was the bond beast of one of the guild cultivators.

Regardless, it meant that Sunwhisper would have a chance to go on without her. His quest was larger than one person, and without her at his side, he could simply leave Silk Flower Town and choose a new name for himself on the road. They knew him here as her brother, but the stars themselves carried no information other than rank, so there would be no need to continue that fiction after they were separated.

Janna considered her future. It was not all bad. She would be a servant, but she was also a cultivator, and the right master might see fit to make use of her talents, even train her, when they saw that she was worthy of a star. Maybe one day, many years from now, she would be able to buy her freedom and become an itinerant. She could see the Middle Kingdom then, after she paid for her crime.

She wished Sunwhisper the best of luck on his journey, certain that they would never meet again.

********

Janna had been taken from the Guild House to a building down the road owned by the Azai clan. The usher had given Sunwhisper directions, but he had made his way there on his own. It was a two story building surrounded by fencing and bored looking guards wearing iron caps and tabards emblazoned with the clan symbol, which looked a bit like three tadpoles chasing each other in a circle.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

(So what, you want to fight our way in there?)

{That seems doomed to failure.}

(Good, I thought you had lost your mind already. Listen, kid, I don’t know if looking human is making you crazy like a human, but it's time for us to cut our losses. You wanted to help this girl, or have her help us, whatever, but her usefulness is at an end. This is more risk than she’s worth.)

{I’m sure you are right, but there is still something I would like to try,}

(What’s that?)

{Social combat.}

********

The Kicking Dragon was an inn frequented by members of the Azai clan who weren’t well off enough to have their own homes or were off duty or otherwise avoiding the clan barracks. It was dimly lit, and smelled of cedar. The staff kept the floors clean and the glasses full, and it was host to a nightly taro game.

Hago enjoyed Taro for the strategy, but he stayed for the chance. Those glorious moments when all seemed lost, the board against you, and the perfect card appeared in your hand at the perfect time.

The game was deceptively simple, two or more players placed cards on the table until they had a tercet, a specific combination of three cards that added to a player’s score for that hand, and the scores were compared to declare a winner. There was more to it than that, of course, but a new player could do well enough with no more than a deck and a list of combinations and their associated point values.

Hago had been playing for years, and he relied on the game as a second source of income for amenities, the occasional gift for his wife and the like. When he had a really good hand, or tough opponent, it was one of the few times that he forgot the pain in his back and hip.

Most of the local Azai boys had learned not to play head to head with him, but they liked to gather at one of the big tables and lure in tourists or friends to watch him take their money. It was a good way to pass the time while he waited for news about the Makoto problem. That woman, may she live forever, was insufferable, ordering around clan cultivators like they were her personal lackeys.

For all he knew, the girl was telling the truth, and she really had run away and had nothing more to do with Shishio or the border guardian. But he couldn’t let her go. Her fate belonged to the first Soga who claimed her. A pretty girl like that, he could guess what kind of life she would lead after this.

What a waste.

"Look over there," one of the junior Azai told him, "that’s the man the girl was watching today. The one who got his second star."

Hago glanced to another table where a young man looked to be losing money. He was handsome, very tall, and with those tattoos fresh on his arm, clearly celebrating. There was also a tattoo on the back of one of his hands, not a symbol Hago recognized, likely something personal. A family mark, perhaps.

"Invite him over."

The young man seemed happy to be included, and more than a little tipsy. No mana body here, then. He had to borrow a taro deck, but he seemed to have the fundamentals of the game well mastered, not using a cheat sheet for the scoring at least.

He introduced himself as Sunwa, and he didn’t talk much as they started a five man game with low stakes. It was important to bring men in for a little, so that you could take them for a lot later in the night.

Hago watched him carefully, the young master was very deliberate in his play style, slowly building stronger tercet combinations, and not risking much on long shots. Soon there were only four men at the table, and an hour later, there were three.

Sunwa had neither gained nor lost any money in that time, or rather, he had done an equal amount of both, so that he was back to where he had been at the beginning. Hago, on the other hand, had made a tidy sum off the other players, who left disappointed that they hadn’t found the newcomer as easy a mark as he appeared to be.

"You like the game," Hago said, "I can see that."

"It is exhilarating," the young man was earnest, excited, and it was easy to share in his enthusiasm. Hago hadn’t had a game this enjoyable in months. Winning as often as he did provoked ill feelings in less skilled players, and the newcomer was a pleasant change of pace.

They talked for a while about the game, about their best and worst moments, the way fortune could play fickle or fine.

"It’s the heart of the cards," the young man said, "either you have it or you don’t."

So he understood, at least. After another half an hour, it was only the two of them at the table, and they were taking turns buying drinks.

"Tell me something," the young master said, "are the women here friendly? I don’t want to offend, but I feel like a fly in a field of the most delectable horse manure, and I cannot decide where to land."

Hago guffawed at the image. He may have had more to drink than he intended already, but the young man was disarming, and he felt at ease. As a married man, he had never attempted to woo the wait staff at the Kicking Dragon, but he had been sorely tempted. They had more than a few girls working for them with skin like jade and smiles as wide as the whispering sea.

"Maybe you will have better luck with them than with these cards, but I make no promises, my friend."

"Ah well, it was only a thought." he seemed to lose his focus for the first time that night. "I shouldn’t think of it, I’m in town because of a woman already."

"Oh," Hago leaned forward, "why don’t you tell me about her?"

"It’s not like that," the young man looked away, and he set his cards on the table before him. "She’s my sister."