The imperial palace was quiet.

The preparations and cleanup from the wedding party had ceased; even the servants had moved to their own rooms, leaving a calm silence in its wake. Only the imperial guards remained awake, standing at each door, at some windows, and at some strategic locations throughout the courtyard. Some of them paced while at their positions, too restless to sleep.

Amongst the palace’s marbled corridors a wraith-like figure darted, moving as if one with the shadows. Along the halls it slipped, moving silently on lithe, quick feet. It turned, ascending a staircase without a sound, and stole along the corridor reserved for the Hiwan clan's most revered guests.

Finally Yuna slipped from the shadows and stopped in front of the fourth door on the left. Her eyes darted from the left to the right; no other bodies haunted the corridor with her.

With a quick, four-rap staccato, she knocked on the door. Without waiting for permission to enter, she grabbed the door handle and twisted. The door opened without protest. She slipped inside, closing it behind her without a sound, and stared into the dark room.

Kenzo lay half-naked in a beam of moonlight on his bed. In his arms was a young dark-skinned woman, her shirt wrenched off and hanging from her waist. She glared at Yuna, her glittering eyes cutting through the darkness.

Yuna ignored her. "Get rid of the whore," Yuna snapped, advancing into the room. "You and I have some talking to do."

Kenzo held up a hand to stop her. With her eyebrow raised, Yuna paused halfway across the room.

The girl in his arms shifted. She draped one arm across her bare chest, hiding her breasts as she rolled onto her side to study Yuna in greater detail.

"This is my third wife, Shima," Kenzo said. "She deserves respect."

Yuna rolled her eyes.

Laughing, Kenzo turned to Shima, gently pushing her off his chest. "Go, Shima. Leave the room. I have business to take care of that would be utterly boring to you."

With a fierce scowl, Shima slipped a sheet around her body and left, the silky fabric trailing after her as she moved into her adjoining room. Yuna watched her go, waiting until she heard the snick of the lock in the door before she turned back to Kenzo.

Now he stood only a few feet away, his pants bulging. He reached out, running his fingertips along her arm. "Really, Yuna," he purred. "Could you not wait to have me again? Does the thought of coming into power and exacting revenge on your enemies make you as excited as it does me?"

"Your arrogance knows no bounds."

"Can one call the truth arrogance?" he snorted.

She grinned and gave a coy glance his direction, but deftly dodged his attempt to capture her wrist and draw her closer.

"No," she drawled, crossing to the bed. She sat on the edge, patting the spot next to her. "We have business to take care of first."

"With some dessert later?"

"If you are a good boy."

With a sigh, Kenzo followed, sinking next to her on the mattress. His weight pulled her closer, but she leaned back, resisting his attempt to draw her in. He frowned in mock protest, but folded his hands in front of him in a gesture of capitulation.

"Everything is in motion," she purred. "Everyone else is ready. It's time to launch the signal."

Kenzo passed her an amused glance, then stood again. "Oh, Yuna," he said, tsking under his breath, "you are so thorough, aren't you? So ready to be the creator of innocent deaths and political machinations. Really. Someone should teach you some manners."

He reached into a compartment in a table next to his bed, extracting a thick candle. With a quick flick of his wrist and a brush of the tinderbox, he lit the wick. Then he walked across the room to set the candle on the middle window facing over the courtyard.

Ribbons of moonlight bathed Kenzo’s figure for a moment as a strange greenish glow emanated from the candle and spread outward in a bright haze.

The flame flared, reaching higher just as planned.

The light would certainly draw the right, knowing eyes, Yuna thought as she gazed on in approval.

"So you say everything is good," Kenzo said, returning to stand in front of her and momentarily blocking Yuna’s view of the candle. "That everyone is in their proper place, yes?"

"You don't trust my word?" she drawled.

"Does that include the armaments for my men?"

"As we agreed, yes."

"Your people are reliable?"

"As reliable as yours."

He gifted her with a quick smile. "Then I imagine we should run into no unexpected issues."

"None at all," she murmured in agreement.

He advanced a step, reaching out with a hand to touch her jaw. She tilted her head back, welcoming the gesture with her favorite coy smile. Her bright red hair gleamed in the low moonlight, coiled in a bun and held there with a pointed, sharp ji-fu hairpin. Rust colored jewels decorated the end of the pin in a snarling fox.

Kenzo closed the remaining distance between them to devour her with a hungry kiss. "Yuna, celebrate our plan with me," he groaned.

"You have been a good boy," she purred.

"For you, always."

She stood up, shoved him onto the bed, and leaped on top of him. With a smooth motion she pulled off one of her sleeves, then the next.

Kenzo's eyes shone as she bared her chest and loomed over him. "I do love my rewards,” he murmured.

First he ran his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. Then he grabbed her and rolled her onto her back, pressing his weight into her. She shoved him off, following until she was on top. She kicked off the rest of her garments.

Kenzo moaned and gave in to her skillful motions, giving himself over to her utter control for the next fifteen minutes.

"Yuna," he cried finally, his eyes closed. "The gods!"

Her hand snaked up to her hair, nimbly finding the bronze hairpin inlaid with fox decorations on the top of her head. She unsheathed the ji-fu, and it glimmered in the moonlight for just a moment. The long tip tapered to a sharp end the width of her smallest finger.

Yuna impaled herself on Kenzo one last time, and as she heard him shout with ecstasy, lunged the hairpin deep into his chest, through his ribs, and right into his heart. His eyes blew open as he gasped. She pulled it free and plunged it in again. He coughed, shouted. Yuna dodged his flailing hands to shove the hairpin in again. She jerked it around with vicious stabs. Kenzo hacked. He gasped. Blood spilled from his mouth. Gasping, he rolled to the side, struggling to shove her away.

Yuna slipped free of the bed, sliding into the shadows as she watched him gurgle.

His flailing calmed, and his terrified eyes transformed into a gaze of disbelief. Minutes later, his face grew slack. His hand fell to his side, and the spurting of his blood slowed as his heart stopped, leaving him dead on the bed in a heap of blood.

Yuna bit at her bottom lip to contain any sounds of glee. Then she approached the bed and wiped the blood off her weapon with one of the blankets.

She pinned her hair up again and, rummaging through her discarded clothing, pulled out a knife.

Time was not on her side, so best not to lose any of it while getting dressed, she thought.

Completely naked, she darted to the door and, knife in hand, slipped into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

With confident, certain steps, she worked her way down the hall, following the long-memorized castle layout in her mind, Kenzo’s blood staining her naked body.

Peering around a corner, she spotted two guards flanking a pair of double doors. Two torches illuminated the hallway from the opposite wall, casting long, flickering shadows on the guards. She gauged the distance with her eyes and slipped back behind the corner.

Taking a long, slow breath, Yuna crouched, tensed her muscles, charged around the corner, and sprang into the air with a hiss.

Her leap was accurate. She landed on the first guard, slamming him to the ground. With a swipe of her knife she slit his throat, then leaped on the second. He reached up a hand to block her attack. She ducked under it and stabbed him in the ribs, then grabbed him by his hair and slit his throat.

By now both guards were slumped on the floor, their blood pooling around them. Yuna stood up and stepped back, breathing hard until their bodies stilled. When the second body twitched for the last time, Yuna glanced down the corridor and, finding no one watching, advanced for her parents’ door, knife in hand.