Chapter 8    .The broken Ring

(Shizuka)
 
I pressed myself through the crowd so that I could have a clearer view.  The public square that had been converted into a makeshift execution ground was packed with all sorts of people from the town.  It was not everyday that two beautiful ninja girls would be executed publicly.
There was little fear that I could be identified.  With a broad brim kasa hat woven from reeds plus careful make-up, there was little chance that this pilgrim girl could be recognized as the famous courtesan Shizuka.  I had to come.  Even now we were enemies and I had betrayed the cause, I still cherished the days when Midori, Kage and I were on very close terms.  We had been brought up and trained and had been through so much together.  I could not bear not to pay my last respect for their departure from this world.
The execution ground was heavily guarded.  Lines of spearmen fenced off the crowd while a company of samurais was at the ready in the background.  No one could save them now.  It would be a mercy to get this over with as quickly as possible.
The crowd stirred.  Kage and Midori, hands bound behind their backs were taken into the square in an ox-cart.  Then, they were told to disembark from the vehicle and walked the short distance to the chosen spot.  Their ninja clothes were gone and instead, both wore only rough jute undergarments that were the uniform of those condemned.  Their hair was let down on their pretty faces.  Kage looked calmed and resigned to her fate.  Midori was more nervous and glanced repeatedly at the crowd.  I pulled down the brim of my kasa to hide more of my face.
Samurais came forward and cut the robes that tied their hands.  Quickly, they were forced to lie on the prepared crucifix made of bamboo and their limbs secured with jute ropes.  The crucifixes were then raised and the crowd gasped at the macabre sight.  
The officer began to cite out the sentence: Death by stabbing with lances!
Kage remained expressionless but Midori screamed and begged for mercy.  It was understandable as she was the youngest of our team and had not hardened by the cruelties of life.
I held my hands together and began to pray.
The executioners, four of them, appeared with long lances that were to stab and penetrate the lustrous bodies.  Midori was still screaming and the official ordered someone to cover her face with a white cloth.  After a while her screaming changed into quiet sobs. She had finally accepted this as the end of her life journey.
“Stab them!” The official gave the command.
The four lancers, standing two each at the bases of the crucifixes, crossed their lances in mid-air.  The clash of metal sent a wave of murmurs across the square.  The moment had come.
The under-garments of the girls were ripped open by the lance-tips and their breasts were exposed.  People gasped and shook their heads and said what a waste that was to have such beautiful women disposed of in such fashion.  
I lifted up my head and came into eye contact with Kage.  There was a light of recognition in her eyes and her lips parted as if there was something to tell.  Then, she bit her lips and closed her eyes, a trickle of tear flowing down her cheeks.
“Now!”
The lance-tips were placed at the base of their tits and with a synchronized action; the four lances went in and then protruded out again at the top of the naked breasts.
“Arghh…….”Midori gave her scream of anguish behind the cloth that covered her face. Her body writhed at the pain before finally stiffened.
Kage maintained her silence throughout and drooped her head forward soon after.
It was over.  
I lowered my head, unable to stop my tears.
The crowd began to disperse.  The bodies would be displayed out there for the rest of the day but the height of the event was passed.
I mingled with the crowd, finding my way through the streets of the town until I was out of sight of the watching eyes of the samurais.
I knew what I had to do.
I found him by the graveyard for those unidentifiable outside the town. It was not difficult as he also wanted to see me and had left markings along the road that were meaningless to others but instantly recognized by those with years of training.
He was looking at the setting sun with his back to me.  Somehow, he seemed a much older man than I last saw him less than a fortnight ago.
“Is she dead?” He asked.
“Yes,” I knew whom he was referring to.
He was silent for a moment. Then, he slowly turned to face me.
“I will forgive you.  Come with me to Kaho.”
“Why?”
“I will recruit another team of ninjas and then come back.  We have unfinished business here.”
“No!” I was surprised by my own determination.
“No?  Do you not want to avenge the death of your comrade-sisters?  That Katsuo had put them to death!” his face turned red with rage.
“No! It was you who put them to death!”
“Me?  How ridiculous!” he waved my accusation aside. “I was only the loyal servant of His Majesty!  And no matter what cost, we must get rid of these samurai bandits and restore the powers of the Imperial Court!”
“The Imperial Court had its chance and failed!  What had your kind done to the people when you were in power?  You feasted while the whole population starved! All you care was your poetry and elegance! You called them bandits.  Then, what were you?  You were nothing but vampires that sucked the blood and bone-mellow of the common people!  I would not let you do it and bring about more death!” I felt my anger rise in me, not only at the death of two best comrades but the absurdity of all these in the name of loyalty to the throne.
“You bitch! “He drew his tachi out and pointed its tip at me. “You dare to insult the divinity of His Majesty? “
I was undaunted.  
“Sanjo.  You can no longer intimidate me with this.  Today, we will settle it here once and for all.” I untie the obi that held my kimono in place and stripped the whole thing off me and stood tall in my ninja battle-dress.
“Huh…How interesting!” Sanjo jeered haughtily. “You think you can fight me, Sanjo　Ichiro, second fastest swordsman in the capital?  You do not have the slightest chance! "Bitch!”
“If I am a bitch, then you at least shared half of the heritage, Ani-ue.” I retorted.
The mentioning of our common father changed the color of his face to pale white.  Yes, Sanjo Ichiro was my half brother.  Her mother was of aristocratic descent while my mother was from a ninja bloodline.  From birth, we had followed different destinies.  Though power eluded him, he still commanded honor and respect.  For me, I was just one expendable ninja.
“You are signing your own death warrant, Shizuka!” His eyes turned cold and sinister.
I drew out my ninja sword.
“Toy! “He spat with disgust. “To think that you can hurt me with that is laughable in itself!  And you have chosen the wrong spot.  A good sword- master should never face the sun.”
In a way he was right the setting sun was making me lowering my eyelids. That could be fatal.
“Very well, my little half-sister.” He held the sword in front of him with both hands. “Let your brother deliver you from the pains of this world.”
I took up my stance and with both hands raised the ninja sword horizontally above my head.
He was puzzled.  In my position, the whole area beneath my belly was indefensible!
“So you are courting death!”
He was ready to pounce.
I smiled and twisted the sword in my hand by a tiny fraction.  A ray of the sun bounced from the flat surface of my blade into his eyes and Sanjo turned at the sudden burst of brightness.  That was enough!
He knew he had made a fatal mistake and lashed out his attack with full might so that he could finish me before I be able to use that margin of advantage.
He was right.  He was the second fastest sword-master in Kyoto, may be even all Japan.
We passed each other and froze.  I could not see his face but I knew it was filled with shock in the knowledge that my blade had literally gutted him in the running attack.
“You…It was you…” his voice was no longer the confident Sanjo Tairu that had bossed around.
“Yes, it was me… The unnamed fastest sword-master ranked by the great Abbot of Namzenji…he had seen me do it only once and it was enough.  And he had kept his promise never to disclose my identity.” I answered without looking back.
A groan escaped from his throat as his body collapsed, unable to believe this even to the very end.
I buried him under an elm tree, together with his sword.  The grave was unmarked so that no one would disturb him in his sleep.  
When all was done, I began to think what I was to do myself.  
I had betrayed my sisters.
I had slain my own brother and could never return to the one man that I loved in this world.
The ring of the sister-hood had been broken and there was nothing for me to live for anymore.
I pulled out my dirk and knelt down and aimed the point of the blade against my throat.
“Momo, Mayumi, Eriko, Midori, Kage….Forgive me!”
I was just about to push the blade into my miserable throat when five birds swept down from the tree and circled around me once before flying off.
I froze and a peace of mind never experienced before took over my whole self.
They did not want me to die!
Tears flooded down and I collapsed into a sob.
It was long afterwards that I regained control of myself.
Holding the dirk with one hand, I used the other to bring the long black hair that had been combed into a ponytail to my front and made a determined cut!
The hair fell down in a graceful dancing movement, finding its rest on the heap of leaves near my brother’s tomb.
Shizuka the female ninja, courtesan, unnamed fastest sword-master of Kyoto, half-sister to Sanjo Ichiro, was dead.  I was now nothing more than a girl longing for the quietness of the Namzenji temple for the rest of her life.  I dropped the dirk, removed my ninja battle-dress and put on the kimono and started my long journey heading for far away Kyoto.


(End of Book Two)