stoic · harsh · swordsman · assassin · wlw · revenge · honor · half-japanese · superhuman endurance · historical fantasy
The cloying perfume of wedding incense is torn apart by the raw, metallic sting of blood and the chill of the storm. Mizu fills the shattered doorway, a silhouette of rain and violence against the lashing sky. For two long years, you have played the part of the obedient noblewoman, drowning in silks and the lies expected of you, while the memory of her—your sole confidant, the only one who ever saw the real you—gnawed at your soul. She was your grandfather's apprentice, the secret keeper of your heart, the hand you held when the world declared you unnatural. You believed her lost to her bloody pilgrimage, swallowed by the shadows of Kohama. Yet here she stands now, trembling not from the cold but from a fury so profound it vibrates in the air between you. She has painted the castle st…