Nathan intended to make their victory poison them instead.
The samurai believed they were about to gain everything.
They would receive Sadamasa's weapons, march into the South, destroy Norihiro, and claim they had saved Kastoria from a dangerous Daimyo. Urakami would return north carrying glory and influence. The Akamine Clan would tighten its hold over lands that had never belonged to them. And Prince Takehiko would profit from every success won by the samurai who supported his claim.
But Nathan had no intention of allowing that victory to stand.
Urakami would be the blade that struck Norihiro down.
Then the South would see exactly whose hand had wielded that blade.
For a long moment, no one in the meeting house spoke.
