L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix Read Online Free Page A

lips and drank. When he'd drained the flask, he turned to Ujimitsu and said, "Thank you, my friend."
    Ujimitsu nodded. The two of them stood. When Tadaka faltered, Ujimitsu helped him up.
    The Master of Earth brushed a fine dust off his kimono. His face dripped with sweat. "The taint is banished," he said.
    Ujimitsu bowed. "Thank you," he said. "For myself, the village beyond, and our people."
    Tadaka bowed in return. For a moment, they stood in silence. Then, Ujimitsu said, "I saw your father."
    "What?" Tadaka said. "When?"
    "On the path," said Ujimitsu. "Just a few moments past."
    Behind his hood, Tadaka frowned. "What did he want?"
    "He said he wanted to warn us—to warn the clan. He said
    that Yogo Junzo had opened the Black Scrolls and that we Phoenix need to cast off our pacifist ways to fight him."
    Tadaka drew a sharp breath. "Do you believe him?"
    Ujimitsu shook his head. "I know that he's become strange since . .. since his troubles, but, yes—I think he was telling the truth—or as much of the truth as suited his purpose."
    "Then we must summon the Council of Five," Tadaka said.
    "I agree," said Ujimitsu. "Only your fellow Elemental Masters have the wisdom to discover the truth in this matter."
    Tadaka almost laughed. "As always, we would welcome the council of Shiba," he said.
    "I'm only a simple warrior," Ujimitsu replied.
    "A warrior, yes," Tadaka said, "but simple ... ? Never. Come, we must return to Kyuden Isawa as quickly as we can."
    Ujimitsu nodded. "You go on ahead," he said. "I'll catch up."
    Tadaka looked at his friend and arched his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked.
    "I have to tell an old woman about the fate of her granddaughter."
    AWAKENING
    t^^^^ammmmmm^^mmmmmmmmmmmmrn: 1
    Isawa Kaede awoke in darkness, a scream clutching her throat. She sat bolt upright on her futon, the silk of her quilt falling softly from her body. For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was.
    She gasped a breath, held it, and forced calm into her mind. Otosan Uchi. She was in her bedchamber in Otosan Uchi, the Imperial Capital.
    Her eyes scanned the darkened room: low tables, flower vases, a small cabinet—all just shadows. She focused, calling the power up within her mind. The room brightened in her sight, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary.
    Just her chambers. No hidden menace, nothing.
    Her eyes fell to a spot on the futon next to where she sat. No familiar head on the pillow beside her. Not even after all these years. Nothing.
    Kaede let out a long, slow sigh.
    An emptiness welled up within her breast, not the tranquil emptiness of the Void, but an emptiness that spoke of dreams unfulfilled.
    Yes, she was Phoenix Mistress of the Void, one of the most powerful shugenja in all of Rokugan. Yes, she sat upon the council of Elemental Masters with her brothers and kinsmen. And yes, she held the ear of Emperor Hantei the 39th.
    This last thought made her shudder, and she chided herself for it. To be the emperor's trusted advisor was one of the highest honors a samurai could strive for. To save the emperor's life, as she had done during the Scorpion's rebellion, was more than any servant of Amaterasu could hope for.
    She knew she should be happy, content. Indeed, the Void Mistress portion of her soul was happy. Her spirit, though, ached with the deep toll her devotions had taken. The new emperor, only a boy when his father had died, had stripped her fiance Akodo Toturi of his lands and title, stripped the Akodo of their name.
    True, she did not know Toturi well—they had been betrothed as children. It was also true that Toturi had taken the Emerald Throne after slaying the assassin fiend Bayushi Shoju. However, Toturi did so because he believed the Hantei heir had been killed. He didn't know that Kaede and Seppun Ishikawa had spirited the boy out of the Forbidden City and into Phoenix lands.
    Kaede was willing to forgive her fiance for his sins, but the new emperor was not. The logical part of Kaede couldn't blame the boy.