'Have I been unfriendly, your highness? I've always tried to be respectful.' Alyss's face was a mask, but now two spots of colour appeared in Evanlyn's cheeks.
'There always has to be a niggle between us, doesn't there?' she said angrily. 'Thank you for that, your highness. Have I been unfriendly? I've always been respectful.' She mimicked Alyss's words savagely. 'I'm offering my friendship, but you seem determined to push me away. Why? Let's get it out in the open, once and for all!'
Alyss drew in a deep breath. She hesitated. She was an ambitious girl and she knew she might be jeopardising her future career if she took this any further. But then the dam broke.
'We both know what it is! Keep your hands off Will, all right?' She stood up, dominating the smaller girl with her superior height. But Evanlyn stood her ground and shouted back at her.
'Will? What about Will? What is it with you about me and Will?'
'Because you're in love with him! You're the princess and you think you can have anything you want, and you want Will. Any fool can see that!'
'Then I'm afraid you're the fool, Alyss Mainwaring, because I am not in love with Will. I'm in love with Horace.' Evanlyn had lowered her voice, but her words carried no less weight for the sudden drop in volume.
'Of course you are! Don't deny it. You…' Alyss suddenly realised what the princess had said and floundered to a stop. 'You're what?' she said. 'I mean, I know Horace is in love with you. But you…'
'I am in love with him. Deeply in love with him. And only him. Why do you think I came halfway round the world to help him? Because he's a good dance partner? Oh, I love Will, Alyss. But I'm not in love with him. We went through so much together and he was a wonderful friend and protector for me. Look, years ago, when we came back from Skandia, I thought I was in love with Will. I'll admit I made a play for him then. But he refused me – and he was right. We're friends, good friends. Surely you can deal with that?'
Alyss hesitated. She still wasn't certain. She wasn't sure that she trusted Evanlyn's motives.
'I'm not…' she began but Evanlyn erupted in anger once more.
'Oh for god's sake, girl! Tell me, how do you feel about Horace?'
'Horace?' Alyss said in surprise. 'Well, we grew up together. I love him, of course. He's like a big brother.'
'Exactly! Now has that ever seemed to bother me? Or have I coped with it?'
Alyss couldn't help a wry smile. 'Well, when we found him, you nearly broke my arm getting him away from me,' she said and Evanlyn rolled her eyes to heaven. 'But no…I suppose it hasn't bothered you. There's no reason why it should. There's nothing like…that…between Horace and me, as I say.'
'Aaaaaaaggggggghhhhh!' Evanlyn let out a frustrated yell. Alyss actually recoiled a pace in surprise. 'That's what I'm trying to tell you! There is nothing like that between me and Will, either! Cope with it! For god's sake, cope with it!'
More than a little taken aback, Alyss studied the determined stance of the small figure before her. Alyss was an honest person and she was forced to admit that Evanlyn had an excellent point. Alyss had spent the past few months, and some considerable time before that, acting suspiciously towards her, distrusting her and jealously resenting any time she spent with Will. Yet she realised that Evanlyn, if she chose to, could feel exactly the same way about her relationship with Horace.
But she didn't. She accepted it.
And suddenly Alyss felt very small when she remembered the sarcasm and the taunts and the bruised knuckles that had characterised their relationship. Evanlyn had behaved well, she thought. It was she who had behaved badly, who had been petty and distrustful. This was a noble and courageous girl, she realised. She hadn't hesitated to risk her life when Alyss was in danger. She had acted quickly and resourcefully.
She had offered her friendship and Alyss, as she always had in the past, had rebuffed her.
'I'm sorry,' she said meekly. 'I never thought of it that way.' She felt ashamed and for a few seconds she couldn't meet Evanlyn's eyes. But then she heard the unmistakable smile in the smaller girl's voice.
'Well, thank goodness we got that out of the way. After all, our future husbands are best friends. It'd be damn awkward if we continued to hate each other.'
'I never hated you,' Alyss protested, but she saw Evanlyn's eyebrow raise in a familiar expression.
'Oh really?' the princess said.
Alyss shrugged awkwardly. 'Well…maybe a bit. But I'm over that now.' She looked up at Evanlyn and they smiled at each other. There was a new warmth in their smiles and Alyss realised that this was a friendship that would last for her lifetime.
'Are you really going to marry Horace?' she asked, intrigued. Evanlyn nodded.
'I'll be needing a bridesmaid,' she said. 'A tall one. That way, I'll look more petite and feminine.'
Halt clapped his hand on the shoulder of the exhausted scout.
'Thanks, my friend,' he said. 'Now go and get some food, then rest. You've served your Emperor well.'
'Hai, Halto-san!' the travel-stained young Kikori replied. He had spent a nerve-racking four days avoiding Arisaka's army to bring his report to Ran-Koshi. He bowed to the command group, then again, more deeply, to the Emperor. Then he turned and left. Halt waited until he was gone.
'I think that seals it,' he said. 'We'll have to force Arisaka's hand before his reinforcements get here.'
'Now we know why he's waited,' Horace said thoughtfully. The valley leading to Ran-Koshi had been clear for several days, the last of the snow having melted away. Each day they had expected Arisaka to attack and each day he had failed to do so. Now the reason for his delay was obvious. General Yamada, an unexpected ally, was marching to his aid with a force of three hundred Senshi.
According to the report they had just received, the extra troops could arrive within a matter of days.
Shigeru shook his head sadly. 'I had hoped that Yamada would at least remain neutral. I never thought he would believe the lies that Arisaka has been spreading about me.'
Through the winter, Atsu's network of spies had brought in reports of an extensive disinformation campaign generated by Arisaka and his allies to win over the uncommitted clans. According to these reports, Shigeru had abandoned the throne and fled the country. Arisaka was claiming to have trapped a rebel force that was using Shigeru's name and an impostor who resembled the Emperor, in an attempt to seize the throne.
'The bigger the lie, the easier it is to sell,' Halt said sympathetically. 'People tend to believe that a preposterous story must be true – precisely because it is so unlikely.'
'But surely, once Yamada and his men see Shigeru, they'll know the story's false?' Will said.
Halt shook his head. 'How many of Yamada's men would know you by sight?' he asked the Emperor.
Shigeru pursed his lips. 'Very few. Even Yamada would need to see me at close quarters to recognise me.'
'And by the time he had the chance to do so, you'd be dead. You can be sure Arisaka would see to that,' Halt replied. 'But, if we can break Arisaka's force before Yamada arrives, you'd have the chance to prove you are the Emperor.'
'Arisaka has at least five hundred men,' Will pointed out. 'They'll outnumber us by more than two to one.'
'They'll outnumber us four to one if we wait for Yamada to arrive,' Halt pointed out. 'And this way, we can choose our own battleground.' He turned to where Jito, the former headman of Riverside Village, was standing – a few paces away from the others. Jito was still a little in awe of being so close to the Emperor but he'd earned his place in these councils. Halt had put him in charge of logistics and organising defences. 'Jito, are the hedgehogs ready?'
Jito nodded in confirmation. 'Yes, Halto-san. We have fifty of them. I've had them taken down Mikeru's Pass and they're ready to be assembled and placed in position.'
Those Kikori who weren't training as fighters had been busy during the previous months, constructing defensive measures and equipment. The hedgehogs, portable obstructions designed by Halt that could be assembled quickly on the battlefield, were one example of their work.