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On the field of battle

He was young His face was lean Hawkish With a pointed jaw and eyes blacker than pitch His topknot was perfect, every strand aligned in elegant submission As he inspected the ruins, another ar a fistful of burned boro and silk--two singed banners, one bearing the sa the crest of the e his confirh his words were apologetic, he did not speak with remorse He spoke with an understood pro the sa lance his way Expressionless in the face of the horrors perpetrated on his own ripped a blackened piece of wood and yanked it aside with vicious precision It splintered, its ends cru sairl lay within What remained of her skin was crackled black by the fire When he studied the carnage further, Hattori Kenshin noticed the glint of several arrowheads buried beneath the girl’s re the norimono’s floor Tarry Thick

Blood

She had not died by fire

He paused

Then continued in his search, his eyes unceasingly roving

Wedged into one of the only re corners of the richly appointed norile of burned fabric The same sort of boro fabric his family used to fashion their pennants The same boro the peasants andthe elimpses of truth

Mariko’s kimono Not even a hint of the distinct tatsumura silk could be seen anywhere

Kenshin’s eyes moved to the bare earth at his feet Drifted to the left, then slowly to the right

A zori sandal--all but hidden from his eyes--lay on its side a few steps away from the nori sun A lacquered finish unmarred by fla to retrieve it

"My lord," the saan in a hesitant tone, "I know--"

Kenshin silenced hilance, then returned to his work, his eyes still searching Ever hunting

Soon he found what he was looking for

Tracks

Two sets One made in pursuit of the other, the second set of far less interest to Kenshin than the first

The first set were the tracks of a woman’s split-toed tabi socks Tracks like those of a wounded deer, staggering away from its inevitable demise It was clear an attempt had been made to cover theed deter skill of Hattori Kenshin He knew these tracks The shapes pressed into the earth were too sh his twin sister was anything but delicate, Kenshin knew they belonged to her with the same sort of certainty he felt in his heart In his every breath She’d been alive three days ago

And these tracks led to the left

Away from the massacre

Without a word, Hattori Kenshin returned to his wild-eyed warhorse Born to the motions of a warrior--to the uard, then swung onto his oiled saddle

"My lord," the sah it may be difficult to accept, I am afraid it is clear Lady Hattori--"

Kenshin raised his left hand Curled his fingers into a fist Then he signaled histhe tracks into the forest

Frorinned slowly Darkly

His sister was not dead

No

She was much too smart for that

THE GOLDEN CASTLE

His Imperial Majesty Minaoddess, heavenly sovereign of the Eardens, no less