Izue was sitting in the middle of the bed, surrounded by scrolls and books. Some were sprawled all the way down to the floor, and several books were being held open by other books.

“I never took you to be the studious type,” Sou joked. Izue looked up, a small brush clenched between her teeth, and smiled. It made Sou’s heart flutter.

“One of us has to be in the intelligent one,” she retorted, taking the brush out. Sou looked around the room, pretending to search for something. “Intelligence? Nope, don’t see any of that around. You must be sorely mistaken.” He walked over and leaned against the bedpost, scanning the variety of scholarly works taking up their bed. “What are these? I can’t read any of it.”

Izue smiled and went back to work. “I know. Very few people can. These are very old characters, I’ve discovered over 20 000 of them so far.”

“20 000?!”

“The knowledge contained within these scrolls isn’t meant for just anyone. Only the most dedicated can read them.”

“So, what’s in there then?”

Izue picked up the scroll before her and held it up. “This one details the exploits of the first great witch of Yashima, Tsukiyomi. One of your ancestors, if the Yashiro legends are to be believed?” The Yashiro long claimed descent from the shamed Prince Genji, who had only two children during his lifetime. One of them went on to father several clans, one of which became the Yashiro. The other was Tsukiyomi, the first great witch of Yashima, which made her a kind of great-great-great-great-great aunt to Sou. The other clans liked to bring up the Yashiro’s dark ties to the past whenever political talks came up, just to try and goad them into saying or doing something they could hold against them. Sou’s father had taught him to be proud of his ties to the past, however, and he saw no shame in either of his ancestors. They simply did what they thought best for their people, no matter the cost to themselves.

“She is my ancestor, yes,” was all Sou said.

Izue smiled. It wasn’t a cruel smile, in fact, it was just the opposite. “I’m sure you’ve heard many things about the horrible deeds she committed and all the people she killed, but I admire and respect her. Her family was taken by a corrupt government, and she fought against it with the only means available to her. It takes a true hero to stand up for what they believe in, even against overwhelming odds.” There was a look in her eyes, almost wistful. “Anyway, this scroll talks about the spell she created to conjure the gashadokuru that she unleashed upon her enemies.”

Sou blinked a few times. “Are you… You’re not planning on summoning a gashadokuro, are you? I mean, I don’t really need a giant skeleton warrior right now, but-”

“Who says it’s for you?” Izue interrupted him, raising her eyebrows. Sou opened his mouth a few times before she laughed. He let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“The gashadokuro itself isn’t important. How she created a spell powerful enough to summon one is. Her ability to not just follow spells written down, but create her own from scratch is unrivaled. And you can’t just call on a yokai and expect it to willingly follow you. The power required to summon one alone is quite extensive.”

“Is that what you did with the nurikabe?”

“The what now?”

“The nurikabe? Really? You’ve forgotten about it already? The thing that was protecting your castle and tore up half my army the first day we arrived.”

The lights turned on in her eyes. “Oh, that thing. Oh no, yeah, I summoned it, but that was all. That was more of a test, really. I was bored one day and thought to myself, ‘you know what this castle is missing?’”

“… a giant murderous wall?” Sou interjected.

Izue laughed. “Daisen Castle is terribly dull. Father suspected your armies would march on us soon enough, so I thought I’d spice things up a little. I called it, yes. What it did after that was its own work.”

So the monster that had eaten a large number of his men was summoned because his now-wife was simply bored. Perhaps something to keep an eye on in the future.

“So, when did you first start learning to read these, then?”

“I found some scrolls in the forest one day when I was a child. I took them home and kept them secret from father while I tried to decipher them. It took me three years to understand the first one. I located all the scrolls and books I could on ancient writings, characters from overseas, women’s script, you name it. Day and night I poured through them until finally one day I could read a word. Then a sentence. Then a paragraph. The scroll itself was nothing. A simple spell to make the man you love come back to you. It was several years later that I realised that actually meant after death, not before.”

“So like, an undead husband? Why would anyone want that?”

“The loss of a loved one can do powerful things to a person.” Izue looked up at him at that. He couldn’t quite read the look in her eyes and it confused him.

“Please don’t bring me back if I die,” he joked, trying to lighten the dark mood that had suddenly descended over the room.

“Who says I’m going to let you die?” Again Sou couldn’t read the look in her eyes.

“You can’t protect me forever. Some day a stray arrow or sword is going to find its mark and I’ll join my father and mother in heaven. I suppose we should have an heir or two before then though.” Sou gave a small laugh but he was beginning to feel more and more awkward.

Izue got up from the bed of scrolls and moved towards him. She placed a hand on his chest and looked up into his eyes. The awkwardness was replaced with nerves and a rapidly beating heart.

“You underestimate my powers, Lord Sou. Do you remember that day in the forest? The day we fought. I told you that I believed you were the man who could rule this country, and I was the one who could help you do it. I wasn’t lying. I truly believe in you and I will let nothing get in your way. Not Kuroda, not Shiroyama, not that Bitou girl you keep around as a pet, not even your own men. Nothing. Do you understand?”

Sou swallowed. She was so much tinier than him, but at that moment he had no doubt she could destroy him if she wanted to. Thankfully, it was the exact opposite. Her words filled him with confidence. Power. Direction.

“Not that you need my protection, but I’ll never let anyone hurt you either,” he said. Izue laughed, as though the gesture were cute, and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

“Enough talk about spells and monsters and wars. There are other things I’d rather be doing right now?”

“Hmm? And what’s that?”

Izue cleared the scrolls off the bed and lay back. She smiled and beckoned with a single finger.

“Oh.”