To the ones I love...to my beloved father, Red Rain, and my mother, Moon...

The audacity and contempt for authority the blind girl demonstrates brings fire to my cheeks, but I stay my hand. She is right, after all. What good is my noble lineage, my sea-roving infamy, or my wushu magicks so far from home, in the sickly yellow light of a Kamakura cell?

Within me I find respect for the waif's wisdom, something I was loath to afford her in the heat of yang. But I find balance once again, and I thank her for her sensible words. "You are wise beyond your years, Shŭ, and I am grateful for your good sense. But a wiser one would know not to speak so forwardly to a daughter of the Golden Lanterns. If you would not have this cell be your tomb, you would be wise to hold your tongue at the Shogun's court and let me do the talking."

Two soldiers in lavish dress, all tassles and steel, come for me, calling me "pirate". I proudly brush my sleeves and straighten my coat, shaking the proverbial dust of the prison off my rich, russet and gold coat. "You have an audience with the Shogun," one of the soldiers grumbles in their bastardised language. A rare jewel of the lake spirits, I glide gracefully across the cell to them. Their expressions of contempt are quickly replaced by those of awe and fear. I am confident and beautiful, yes. They see this. But they also see that lives worthier than theirs were at one time sacrificed in my defense. It is by no means true, but it is still what they see.

I peer over my shoulder to the waif. I feel that I have weakened their wills well enough to make a request. "The Shŭ comes with me."

After glancing at one another, they return their gaze to me. One of them nods. "Very well."