call true cruelty. One of the men ended up with a broken wrist – he will probably never recover and be able to use that hand again to wield a katana. The other one was beaten senseless by such a long and strong series of punches that he could have died, if the shinobi wouldn’t have stopped at some point. And the last one, who finally got free from the boxes he was thrown into, received a few hits, but was knocked unconscious.
Before letting her consciousness slip away, Kara saw the shinobi walk up and untie her hands.
When she came to her senses again, she was covered by a blanket, her injuries were treated and her shoulder bandaged tightly.
Feeling ashamed and a little broken, she didn’t even want to get up. But she noticed that Ayame was sitting by the cage door.
«I am sorry for what happened last night.» She said to Kara. «This will not happen again.»
Kara remained silent. She would have rolled over to face the wall, but couldn’t because of the sore shoulder. Instead, she simply pulled the blanket over her head and remained in her bed.
To Kara’s surprise, everyone respected her wish not to talk to anyone or be disturbed. Food was brought to her, but she refused to accept it. She took only the herbal teas Ayame provided every day – those made her injuries feel less painful.
But after five days passed her shinobi protector walked into the cage and offered her his hand. She refused to get out of bed, but he shook his head and picked her up instead.
Kara didn’t fight – she finally gave in to the life she was thrown into. She didn’t care anymore – these people could do anything they wanted with her.
The shinobi carried her through the castle and into one of the smaller gardens. Kara couldn’t believe that she was outside and the breath of fresh air gave her some strength back. The man gently set her down on the wooden floor of a tiny teahouse, and a servant brought them a tea set.
Kara kept silent all the way while the shinobi prepared her the fragrant tea. He didn’t say a word, and Kara was grateful that he didn’t. It gave her the possibility to listen to the wind and the birds that surrounded the teahouse.
When the shinobi passed her the cup, she smiled faintly and he bowed.
The tea he made was delicious and warming, but the feeling of the sun on her skin warmed her even more. Whatever she felt for the past few days now seemed far away.
«Thank you.» Kara said to the shinobi.
He bowed again, acknowledging her words.
«Thank you for saving me that night.» Kara said, sipping her tea. «And for today. I needed it.»
The man bowed once more – collected and self-disciplined, as always.
They stayed in the garden for at least a couple of hours before Kara felt her strength returning. When she stood up to take a short walk around the garden, her shinobi stood up as well and followed her – a silent and vigilant guard.
Kara was charmed by the beautiful composition of this garden – it had everything to soothe a troubled mind and help recover from anything that stressed her out. She sat by the small pond filled with koi fish, then breathed in the fantastic scents of various flowers planted all over the garden, and, finally, admired the statues that stood above a tiny rock garden in one of the corners.
«Mariko…» She heard Ayame’s voice and noticed the woman standing by one of the doors. «Master Ryuu wanted to speak to you.»
Kara felt shame that she had to leave such a beautiful and tranquil place, but she knew that if she refused to see the lord commander of this castle – the consequences might be dire. So she nodded and followed Ayame inside.
Ayame took her to one of the halls Kara had never been to before – it was a large, well-lit hall that had various paintings on the walls. On the far side of this hall Kara noticed a luxurious cushion – one of those that were usually used by the shogun in ancient Japan.
On it sat her captor – the lord commander of the castle.
Once he saw her come in, he nodded and offered her to walk up.
Ayame and the shinobi stayed at the doors, while Kara walked up – close enough to hear what the commander had to say, but not too close so that she wouldn’t offend him. She bowed to him, even though it was still hard to do because of her injured shoulder.
The lord commander looked to the side and nodded, and immediately a servant ran out from behind a screen and lay down a small cushion on the floor beneath Kara’s feet. She sat down in the manner people here were used to – on her knees, with her feet under her.
Some why she felt the need to bow again to the lord – only this time – very low, almost touching the floor with her forehead. Usually this meant leaning on both hands, but she had only one – her left arm was wrapped tightly to her torso, so that the dislocated shoulder could heal.
The man in front of her smirked.
«You know our etiquette well, Mariko.» He said.
«I learn quickly.» She replied looking at him.
«Good.» He nodded again. «Now, I have called you here for a number of reasons. First of all, accept my deepest apologies for the attack that happened to you a few days ago. Such behaviour is below a samurai and the men responsible will be punished.»
«Thank you.»
The lord shouted something and the screen doors on one side of this chamber slid open. Kara looked outside and saw a small courtyard, where her three attackers stood kneeling and strapped up by their arms to bamboo poles.
The lord commander stood up and walked up to the doors, gesturing Kara to come too. The woman had some trouble standing up, but when she managed it and approached the lord, he looked at her with a strange expression on his face.
«Inei wanted to execute them at once, but I decided that you should be able to see them being punished for the horrible crime they have committed against you.» The lord said.
Kara looked back and noticed the shinobi nod to her.
«You are here to see the execution and, if you wish, carry it out yourself.» The commander said and Kara looked at him with surprise.
She took a moment to recollect herself.
«I beg your forgiveness, my lord, but I am in no shape to carry out an execution.» She replied.
«Perhaps, you would like to name someone in your stead?»
Kara looked at the shinobi again and noticed his eyes flash with a dark will to do it if it pleased her.
«Inei!» the lord commander shouted and the shinobi ran up to them and knelt.
For a few moments he was looking down, but then looked at Kara and she suddenly noticed something she wasn’t able to see all this time – the shinobi had deep blue eyes.
«Would you be willing to be my hands today?» Kara asked him, and the shinobi nodded and stood
