She slowly closed the windowpane and shuddered
a little, but not from the chill of winter weather, but the thought of Lord
Kashinto; the Dark Lord from the South. He had forced this co-operation between
the pair of noble lords. His army was like a shadow spreading across the
country. She had heard all the stories and rumours about the Dark Lord and his
army. Some of them, it was said, were not even human; but demons called up from
the underworld. Where the army of the Dark Lord passed all communications
stopped; you heard nothing from those places. No survivors, no refugees;
nothing. It was like they had been wiped from the very face of the Earth
itself.
Madame Aiki rose slowly and picked up her
thin cane and walked slowly to the door, which was opened by a servant on his
knees, who bowed a little. But the most terrible thing she had heard about
Lord Kashinto, was his utter disrespect for the authority of the divine
Emperor; Go-Tsuchimikado and had even threatened to march on his
palace at Kyoto.
Surely, the God's would strike down such a man;
if indeed, he was a man and not a demon. Her master had been forced to call
upon desperate mercenaries; two bands of 'Ronin' had already joined the
army. Their leader was a guest in the castle; a mysterious man with pale skin
and black sword that looked ancient. Rumours abounded about the strange
samurai; he was totally fearless in battle, and it was said; could not be killed
by any weapon of man.
She entered the antechamber and her three
selected girls all bowed. She didn't smile and pointed her stick towards the
tallest girl [and the most pretty] "Jisho, you will entertain Lord Sora,
He has travelled without concubines or even bed wenches. I understand that he
favours the mouth and the arse. The master has ordered that he will be pleased.
Do you understand?"
Jisho just nodded and bowed again. Aiki
gestured with her stick, to the smallest of her best girls; Yozen.
"You will go to the strange pale man. He is big and unknown in his pillow
habits, so watch yourself." Yozen bowed and said quietly; "But Madame
he is so ugly!"
The other girls chuckled, but the look Aiki
gave them soon stopped any mirth. "You've fucked ugly men
before Yozen, just watch yourself." Madame Aiki actually
allowed herself a little smile, adding; "According to our master,
the white Samurai is hung like a stallion, he watched him bathing in the river
and believes that his father must have been a horse!"
The girls laughed nervously and poor Yozen
sighed and muttered to the others; "I always get the ones with drainpipes
hidden in their loin cloths." The third girl; Chien grinned at her;
"You always get them because your honey pot could hide a vase - a big vase
- and Madame doesn't want her best girls ruined by such a large
cock."
Madame Aiki ended any further banter
amongst her girls by tapping her stick upon the wooden floor, "Silence.
Chien you will go with old general Tan. He has no comfort women with him."
Chien actually groaned and grimaced; "But Madame, he is old and dirty. It
is said, he does nasty things with women. He likes to piss in their mouths and
he..." She never finished moaning about her expected client, because
Madame Aiki had simply raised her cane and gestured to the door, which was
again slid open by the kneeling servant.
"Go about your duties with a smile upon
your face and ensure that the men are happy with you." She smiled, adding;
"Or I will deal with it." She slapped the cane against her leg
and watched the girls file out in subdued silence.
But Aiki smiled to herself; those three where
like sisters, despite the fighting, name calling and nasty comments. They would
share their last piece of bread or sip of water amongst themselves.
Jisho was tall and pretty; many clients wanted
her, but she was cold as a snow filled river. Where her heart was remained a
mystery to her Mistress. Young Yozen was her favourite - tiny, even by
Japanese standards - yet she received numerous little presents from
her happy clients. She was always smiling, and she often made the other girls -
and her mistress - laugh. Chien had to be watched; if she could, she would
always try and escape her duties with the clients. Madame Aiki knew that she
preferred pleasing other women. Still, she did her duties, but with little
happiness and she received few presents from clients. When first bought to the castle as a comfort girl; she
needed regular beatings to keep her straight. But she had
learnt well and now kept her bad attitude to herself.
Aiki's thoughts about her girls were disturbed
by Guon, a servant from the kitchens, who was also her personal spy in the
castle. He bowed low and smiled; "Madame Aiki, you need to go to the west
gate and see the strangers that have arrived; seeking a place to stay for the
night. Apparently, they travel to Kyoto on the Emperor's business. They
are the strangest people you could ever imagine, but the woman is unbelievable;
a real beauty that the God’s themselves has dropped upon the earth. She is
protected by a black samurai who could strike fear into a demon's heart. They
are led by a magician who has real powers and makes no circus tricks. The boy
that accompanies them is said to have the mind of a young Kukai. Come
quickly."
She nodded, a little intrigued, and followed
Guon to the wall of the west gate, stopping only to throw a warm cloak about
her thin shoulders. She joined an officer and two guards staring down into the
courtyard. There were three horsemen and a rich, cloth covered litter carried
between two horses. Behind came Osarin [an officer of the castle] and his
mounted patrol. Then a column of several prisoners roped together and lead
by several infantrymen.
The young officer on the wall turned and bowed;
he gestured down to the strangers. "Apparently, they were set upon by
those bandits and the great magician from the west simply put the
villains to sleep by raising his arms and showing them a mirror of black.
Osarin says he found them [the bandits] sprawled in the snow; unconscious. They
were gathered up like children."
Aiki stared at the 'Black Samurai' as he
dismounted. She really did smile; now that was a real man, she thought to
herself. Big, rugged and carried himself like a true warrior. But what about
the woman; she leaned over the wall, brushing snow from her cloak, and watched
the litter being placed down. The curtain was pulled back by the young stranger
and the woman stepped out into the winter sunshine.
Aiki nodded to herself; that was real beauty,
she was tall, slender and wearing exquisite silks and fur. Men would
fight and kill; just to kiss her feet. She could marry whoever she wished and
could easily be an Imperial Concubine; very easily.
"Apparently the Emperor has summoned them
to help deal with Lord Kashinto. The woman - it is whispered - is a white witch
of Immense power and prediction. The magician is
said to be her Blood brother. The big black man was a King in
his own land but gave everything up to guard her. The boy makes Confucius look
a child; his mind could cut stone." The young officer added. Aiki just
nodded; apparently everyone was in utter awe of the strange little group from
distant lands.
She watched the woman walk to the doors, then
suddenly stop and stare up at Aiki, who jumped back and gripped her cloak about
herself, she whispered to Guon;"It's like she read my mind." He
smiled; "Don't be surprised Madame, she is a Majo after all." They
left the wall and returned to Aiki's apartments, where she had some sake and
sat thinking. Guon had returned to the kitchens, which would be busy
tonight.
The team assembled in Jericho's rooms -
after the servants had been dismissed - and Jericho briefed them with the
mission details. They would soon be joined by James - a Knight of God - because
there was a strong possibility that Lord Kashinto was or is,
accompanied by a powerful minion of the Dark Prince. He also reported that
over thirty souls had vanished from this time and place. All from
area's where the 'Dark Army' had passed through. That certainly was no
co-incidence, and their brief was to put an end to the disappearances and send
the dark minion back to his master, restoring the human timeline.
Owen found a small chair and perched
uncomfortably upon it and consulted his mirror; "You will never guess who
else has turned up here?" He smiled and tried to sit properly on the damn
chair. Jericho stared out the window and gave a wry smile; "McIves."
He said softly. Owen groaned in disbelieve; "How do you know these bloody
things?" He asked and stood up - the chair was too much, even for his
small frame - and rubbed his arse.
Wilson chuckled; "That's why he's an
Inspector, baby brother." Alex shuffled to the window [her period costume
simply would not allow her stride out] and joined Jericho staring out towards
the encamped army; "Will they actually be able to stop him?" She
asked and Jericho nodded; "Yes, with our help."
"ARMY OF DARKNESS" CONTINUES IN 'TEMPORAL DETECTIVES' BOOK SERIES 0 [EPISODE 0.]
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