The Last Douji

What started as murmurs in the throne room resounded into audible proclamations of disbelief and shock. General Tori watched their reactions with extreme satisfaction.

"Father, how could you?" Prince Ren's voice quivered. He couldn't bear to look at his fiancée anymore after the big revelation. He couldn't understand why his father resorted to murdering his girl and her family when he knew too well how important Anna was to him.

"I... I did acquire the services of foreign mercenaries but it was just to scare the Kyouyamas off and put the blame on Kasai or Kouri. It was not my intention to kill them. Believe me," the Tao monarch pleaded to his son who was staring at him as if he was some lowly criminal.

"King Hideki was blind to our neighbors' threats. I needed to convince him before those two kingdoms take up arms and march against us. I was introduced to this organization called the X-Laws who takes up missions from royalty usually to deal with other difficult royal bloods when negotiations between them fail. I swear to the Great Spirit that all I wanted was to shake things up a bit. YOU were with me when I met up with them, were you not?!" King Yuan pointed menacingly at the Kouku military general.

"What did you expect, Your Grace? They are a group of assassins. Well... I may have tweaked the order a bit after the meeting. I wouldn't want King Yuan to take sole credit for shaking up the four kingdoms." General Tori smiled at the Kaminari king. "What I did not expect though was for someone to escape alive." He turned his gaze to the blond girl standing in front of her dead savior.

Princess Anna grasped the edge of the funeral table for support. She had stained it with blood from her wounded palm. She had become deaf to this recent admission by her father's most trusted men. All she could think about was an overwhelming sense of betrayal from the people they had called friends. Rage was brewing from inside her and she couldn't let go of this deep hatred for the Kaminari king that she was feeling at the moment.

"You are truly a strategist, " Faust exclaimed. No one was sure if he had said it out of admiration or sarcasm. "We've been looking for you for years, you know. Have you resurfaced to continue your family's legacy of war?"

"My family's legacy of war?" General Ryuuken Tori chuckled. "Yes, you can say that. After all, my great grandfather, King Asaha Douji attempted to conquer the four kingdoms while his son, my grandfather, started the second war because of his obsession with a Kouku princess. He confessed about the rape and murder on his death bed by the way. The guilt had been gnawing him up to his very last day. He handed me the heirloom before he passed."

"Of course I was elated when I found out I was a royalty. I was sick of taking orders from the king who was beginning to leave me out of his overseas engagements even though I was his right hand man. I felt so powerless. I'm the true Kasai heir and I would love to get the throne back from the Asakuras."

"But I have no kingdom to rally behind me. So I've used King Yuan's paranoia to plant a seed of discord. The X-Laws plan was initiated thanks to him. I must say I wasn't confident that the group would be able to acquire something from Kasai but they were quite resourceful. They managed to provide the Asakura heirloom which I needed to leave at the crime scene after the assassins have done the job."

"However, there was still a problem on hand. The palace was well guarded so the hired killers wouldn't be able to sneak in without getting noticed. Luck must be on my side when one of the Kouku soldiers-in-training met an accident. His leg had to be amputated and the central town's doctor was able to perform the procedure while he was in a deep slumber. He mentioned about this blacksmith who had been selling sleeping potions as a sideline."

Faust gritted his teeth. His concoction which was meant to save lives had become an instrument in this bastard heir's master plan. He cannot fathom how something innately good can be turned into something evil.

General Tori continued, "I purchased his entire stock but I had no means to pay him since the royal treasurer would only open the vault in King Hideki's presence. So I paid him with something valuable but completely worthless to me."

"The Asakuras' heirloom..." Prince Hao guessed.

"That's right, boy. After the murders were carried out, I went back to the blacksmith's hut. He knew too much so I had to get rid of him and get the heirloom back. Alas, it wasn't there."

"Because my son had asked the same blacksmith to reproduce the missing heirloom." King Mikihisa deduced. He was beginning to understand how the pin managed to end up into his heir's possession again.

"I could have panicked but then I realized that the Asakura pin was an ugly copycat of mine. So I left my precious heirloom in the crime scene. The people of Kouku and Kaminari would not be keen on the details anyway. Now, I have my army but majority of the Kouku military leaders were reluctant to march with me as it would disrupt the so-called peace that we are enjoying in the land for more than a century. I was just appointed as the new king of Kouku and if I were unpopular with the generals, I would most likely be sacked."

"So I had to sign a new contract with the assassins to blow up the Raikou to put an end to their doubts that we are being targeted. Not everyone would believe that an heirloom found in the murder room belonged to the enemy but everyone would sympathize with a grieving father. We would expect for Kasai to deny everything but then you appeared here, Princess and attested that the pin found did not belong to the Asakura heir. To add a great deal to my disappointment, the Tao prince managed to escape as well. Perhaps I should ask for a refund." General Tori sneered at Prince Ren.

"I did get what I wanted though - - - well partially. The Asakura heir is dead. What I did not expect is that there are two of them." In one swift motion, he pulled towards him Lee Pailong who was standing nearby. He plunged his sword unto the foot soldier's chest then quickly grabbed his bow and arrow.

"I will put an end to this wretched clan's lineage!" He managed to launch one towards the unsuspecting Prince Hao before the combined forces of the Kasai, Kouku and Kaminari soldiers had surrounded him.

Princess Anna grabbed the Harusame's hilt from Yoh's side as she heard a body drop and a woman shriek from behind her. She stormed pass the soldiers who were taking turns punching and kicking the former Kouku general.

Men of his status had ambitions but he was never part of the royal family's circle. Betrayal from him was still enraging but less painful. She would enjoy hurting him later. That is if she would still find him alive. Right now, there was only one person in this world who she wanted to kill so badly.

King Yuan did not flinch when he saw the Kouku princess rushing towards him with a steel that was as deadly as her resolve.

"Die!" she screamed.