sense when one wondered how they could have put up with traveling together so long.
“Wanting to get it over with as soon as possible, hm?” Kichi stretched his arms over his head. He was overly tall, as well as overly cheerful. “Can’t say as I blame you. Never know who you’re going to end up stuck behind. And if there’s some poor bastard with a royal air about him ahead of you, the crossing could take all day. That is, if the guards don’t take an irrational dislike to you with no warning.”
Jiang snorted. I got the feeling that perhaps Kichi was the sort of man that guards took an irrational dislike to.
Kouje seemed to think so, too, but I saw him clench his hands at his sides and breathe in deeply instead of saying anything. I laid a hand against his back, to comfort him as much as to draw strength from his resolve.
At the palace, I would have been ashamed to draw on any outside comfort, especially now that I was of age, but I’d never before seen a side of Kouje that faltered, that was ever anything but completely certain. It frightened me more than the imminent border crossing, and I was glad to see him taking control of himself once more.
“One more little border town and we’re at the crossing,” said Jiang. “We thought we might stop there for lunch. Kichi crosses better on a full stomach.”
“What he means is, I’m less likely to ask the guards what they’re having for lunch and end up on the wrong end of a sword,” Kichi said, smiling as though he shared an enormous joke with me.
“Sounds all right,” Kouje said curtly. I could tell that he was wondering whether or not we’d have the money for lunch. We still had some left over from the night before, but it seemed prudent to save it for a time of need rather than on another bowl of rice so soon after the first.
Jiang and Inokichi mounted while Kouje helped me onto our horse. It was an unnecessary gesture, but one we’d thought might aid the illusion that I was his maiden sister, younger and inexperienced. It made me wonder about Kouje’s real sister, the one upon whom we were pinning all our hopes. I wondered if she was like the sister I played at being, or if she was more like Kouje himself. I hoped at least that she would forgive us for using her home as a place to hide—for the trouble it could bring her, and the disgrace if she were ever caught. I hoped that she hadn’t already branded me as a traitor or blamed me for her brother’s downfall.
More than all the rest, I hoped that she would like me.
I fell into a restless dozing on the bright, sunny road that led to the border crossing. When I woke, I was rested back against Kouje’s chest, my neck bent at an uncomfortable angle and my head pounding from the heat. The only comfort I found was the shade cast over my cheek by Kouje’s profile, but my neck felt raw, and was no doubt red as summer beets.
I licked my dry lips, and lifted my head gingerly.
“Where are we?” I asked.
Kouje shifted behind me, as though he’d been reluctant to move before. How long had I been sleeping, I wondered, and how uncomfortable had it been for him? “I didn’t want to wake you. I believe we’re almost at the town.”
“Oh,” I said, squinting down the road ahead. Inokichi and Jiang were riding some way in front of us. I could hear Kichi’s laugh ring out sudden and sharp, startling birds into flight at regular intervals.
“Kouje, how long have I been asleep?”
“Not long,” he said, quiet as though I was sleeping still, and he was trying not to disturb me. “Not longer than half an hour. Does your head trouble you still?”
I nodded, regretting the movement seconds later. “I think that, even if we do not partake of lunch, I am sorely in need of some water.”
“And… what of lunch?” Kouje asked.
We both knew how hungry I was; Kouje, surely, must have been hungry as well. “Full still from the night before,” I said, offering Kouje what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “Perhaps I might fashion some sort of covering for my head before we ride out next.”
“An umbrella would work best,” Kouje said.
“Mm, yes,” I agreed, “and an armed escort—perhaps a stroll in the