The porter who stood night guard at the gate of the house Lord Eitaro occupied in the city saw the master's daughter, Lady Anko, in the garden. The message he held had come urgently, late in the night.

It was addressed to Lady Satsuki, but surely Lady Anko would see her mother even before Kiyo, Lady Satsuki's maid, appeared in the garden.

Anko herself sat on a rustic half-log bench, listening to the birds waking up with the sun. She couldn't sleep any more. She'd see ...