Autumn Bridge

Chapter One

1

The Wraith



The Great Lord wields a sharp sword, rides a fierce warhorse, commands unruly vassals. He has taken the heads of ten thousand foes. His martial prowess is the marvel of the realm. But did he not enter this world bawling from a woman's womb? Did he not suckle helplessly at a woman's breast? And when the cold stars sparkle like ice in the winter sky, and the depth of eternity chills his heart, for what does he yearn more than a woman's embrace?

Aki-no-hashi

(1311)



1860, cloud of sparrows castle in akaoka domain



Lady Shizuka had not changed in the slightest in all the years Lord Kiyori had known her. Her complexion was as smooth as the finest Ming porcelain, with the perfect pallor of a courtly woman of the inner chamber, unlined by the passage of time, unblemished by exposure to sunlight or hardship, without any telltale signs of inappropriate deeds, thoughts, or feelings. Her eyes, when they were not regarding him-shyly or knowingly or beguilingly, as the case may be-looked off into an imaginary distance, with an expression of imminent pleased surprise, an expression accentuated by her high, pluc ... read full excerpt from Autumn Bridge ebook