^^ Lee-Kahn ^^

--- Lee-Kahn ---

I stood guard outside the harem's birthing rooms, gazing into the inky night surrounding the building, my hand around the hilt of my sword.

My mistress's first birth had not sounded so painful, nor taken so long.

The guard next to me shifted, and I immediately drew my sword, aiming it at the man walking towards us. He gazed at us easily, coming into the light from the lantern, and I recognized the royal physician, sent by the emperor himself, to aid in his concubine's childbirth.

I sheathed my blade, silently bowing, and opening the door for him. He nodded and entered swiftly, and I heard him speak to the wet nurse harshly, then the mistress's growls of pain quieted slightly, as if he'd fixed something that was giving her pain.

I relaxed slightly, and then went back to gazing at the darkness, letting my eyes adjust again to the lack of light, beyond the small lantern.

Clouds started gathering with an unnatural swiftness, and my grip upon my sword tightened slightly. 'Magic...' I tsk'ed. 'Magic always screws everything up...'

The clouds took offense, at my thought, and opened up with a crack of thunder, directly upon the harem. I flinched, then gritted my teeth, gazing into the rain, which I could barely see ten feet into, as if it was a monsoon.

Another person appeared, and my blade left its sheath slower. It appeared to be a woman, but she was hiding her face, though in this rain that wasn't exactly odd.

The guard next to me leveled his massive spear, tapping the sharp tip her chest, and growling a warning wordlessly.

I blinked when his spear shattered, and whipped my sword at his chest, successfully intercepting the small dagger she threw at him, then, having saved him, I darted forward, my sword slipping across her throat.

She smiled as she fell, bleeding out in less than a second, dead before she hit the ground, and I turned back towards the door, alarmed.

A sword tried to bury itself in my left eye, and I grunted in pain, rearing back instinctively, then swung my sword, separating the attackers head from his body.

His sword fell away, and I clapped my left hand over the eye, slamming my way into the birthing room, and stabbing the last of the three attackers in the back of the throat as he backed away from the bed, which confused me momentarily.

The baby, newborn and covered in its mother's blood, and now the blood of its first enemy, had hands nearly the size of a 2-year old's, as well as luminescent blue-white eyes.

He was very clearly a cursed child, even to my injured sight. He wasn't crying, and instead blinked slowly, and giggled once, reaching for me with his misshapen hands.

The physician cut the umbilical cord swiftly, twisted it with a practiced air, and then shoved the baby into my arms, making me sheath my sword awkwardly, then cover my eye again.

He moved my hand, examining my wound, then nodded, and covered the wound, wrapping it as I ground my teeth to keep from screaming as he poked around the wound.

"Remove that child from this room. It is cursed, and therefore terrible luck to its mother." He snapped.

The mistress sobbed, clutching her nurse, and refused to look at me or the child.

"HA-meh?" I croaked, my tongueless mouth fighting to form the words.

The mistress dried her eyes momentarily, and gazed at the storm raging around the harem, and nowhere else, as if the child's bad luck had summoned it to hide the assassins who came for it.

"He will be known as Arashi... the cursed storm. Take him to the tower, keep him safe." She said quietly, and looked away.

I nodded and stepped into the harsh rain and wind, covering the child in my cloak.

The baby blinked at me, still smiling happily, and then caught a rain drop, and offered me a diamond the size of his thumb.

I blinked, surprised, and handed it back, darting into the archery tower, which shielded the rear of the castle from enemy attack, with three levels of ports for the archers to fire from, on the upper levels, and two more under that, where the archers were replaced with ballistae, which were to be manned in times of War.

The top two floors, however, were where we kept the ravens, who carried messages to and from the castles.

I sat on one of the hay bales, and gazed at the child again, my single open eye scanning his features. Besides his hands and eyes, his entire body was perfectly shaped, built for the sword, bow, and horse, with the newborn traces of wide, thick shoulders, and long, strong legs.

He blinked at me, and then giggled, reaching his spidery fingers to touch the blood on my cheek.

He pulled away a ruby, and I blinked, then hummed softly. 'He has magic, that much is clear. I've never seen such strong magic, not even his elder brother, who is a prodigy in his own right... maybe it's because he's cursed? His Magic balances his Curse?'

He giggled again, and I leaned back, wondering how I would feed him. He was cursed, his mother wouldn't feed him, and without milk, he would die...

I gazed into the courtyard, and saw the mistress's wet-nurse toddle by aimlessly, her job finished. She was a newly married girl, just given birth to her own child, who had sadly died of Blue-Lip. 'Her breasts will have milk in them...' I thought, and darted down the stairs, intercepting her.

I had wrapped the baby in my cloak, and so I mutely handed him to her. She blinked, but then looked at the birthing rooms in a question, and I nodded severely.

She nodded and followed me into the Tower, sitting on the hay bale while I modestly sat on the stairs, gazing out the northernmost window. She offered the baby her breast gently, petting his head, and he latched on, greedily drinking from her.

I nodded and smiled as the storm suddenly ceased to be.

She noticed, and blinked, afraid. "Did he...?"

I nodded.

"Oh my... you threw quite the little temper tantrum, from being birthed so suddenly, huh?" She murmured, and then relaxed, petting his head again happily.

He released her, and grumbled softly, curling into her chest. She smiled and gently cleaned his face, then fixed her clothes, and handed him gently to me.

"I'll come back, in the morning, or when another storm appears above us." She smiled.

I bowed my head, and she started down the stairs again.

I settled him on the soft hay bale, and then began cleaning the room, unable to stop myself any longer.

The crows were all placed on the first floor, and I commandeered the second floor, creating a crib for him by setting a hay bale on the ground, then digging out a thick trough, big enough for him, and then laying my tunic over it for padding.

I set about settling him in it, after re-wrapping him in my cloak, the warmest thing I had. It was a cold night, so he would need the warmth.

I sighed and laid down next to him, on the floor.

---

Arashi fussed softly as I dressed him in the large robe, but I glared at him with my good eye, and he stopped moving, though he still pouted.

I made sure his hands, (now more properly sized, but still noticeably long and thin in the fingers,) were tucked into his sleeves, which he connected, holding them at waist level, as he'd been taught.

I nodded, then sat him on my knee, combing back his short black hair. I'd cut it extra-carefully, this month, knowing I was to present him to his mother today, after four years of seclusion in this Tower we'd come to call home.

He blinked at me in the cracked glass mirror I'd procured at the market for him. "Will I be meeting my mother today, Lee-Kahn?" He asked in perfect Japanese, as he'd learned by listening to the men speak in the archery ports, a floor below us, and also the generals who discussed military matters upon the roof.

I nodded.

"And I must be very polite?"

I nodded again severely.

"Must I hide my hands? It is not the least bit comfortable." He frowned.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Then at least may I ask questions? You can't speak, and I'm so curious about things!" He frowned, raising his voice a little.

I narrowed my eyes again.

"I apologize, I will attempt some control of my voice." He muttered, and hopped down, then stepped into his threaded slippers, throwing my cloak around his shoulder.

I wanted to tell him he couldn't wear a guard's cloak, but the red did match his outfit, which was dyed red and black, a direct contrast to his icy gaze, and porcelain skin.

I followed him, dutifully scanning my surroundings, to make sure he didn't trip, and we slowly exited the Tower.

He blinked at the new light, and I lunged, reaching for a rock headed towards his head.

He surprised me by simply moving his head, and catching the rock, slinging it back to slam into the palm of the thrower, a boy of perhaps seven, who squeaked and ran away, already crying as he held his bleeding palm.

I hummed, and patted Arashi's shoulder, then shook my head when he looked up at me.

"That wasn't polite, I don't think. I was only reacting. Should I apologize?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Hmm... after we speak to mother, we will apologize to him. But he threw the rock at my head, and much harder than I threw it. Does he not also owe me an apology?" He asked.

I nodded slowly, then hummed, thinking about that question critically. 'As the son of the emperor, that boy technically committed a grave crime, attacking Arashi... but Arashi shouldn't have made him bleed... hmm...' I pulled out a small pad of paper, and scraped charcoal across it, writing down what I'd thought for him.

'He threw the rock, and so is at fault, but you threw it back, and so are also at fault.'

He read it, with some difficulty, (mostly from my handwriting,) and then nodded. "So we will issue equal apologies." He said simply.

I bowed, then nudged him towards the main hall of the harem.

He sighed and began walking, tucking his hands away, and keeping his gaze upon the ground a few yards in front of him.

The guards reacted, upon seeing him, and me, the previous captain of the mistress's personal guard, and opened the doors respectfully, regarding the boy with curiosity and a little apprehension.

We entered the room, which held only three people, though one was the royal physician, tending to the hand of the boy who'd thrown the rock.

I saw his face now, and cursed my luck. The boy was Arashi-Kumo's elder brother, Ameno-Kumo.

The mistress gazed at me, and smiled slightly. "Lee-Kahn, I've missed your presence dearly... you bring with you my youngest son?" She asked, looking at him critically.

I bowed, and he stepped forward, bowing deeply.

"Greetings, mother. Arashi-Kumo stands before you." He said formally.

She blinked. "Ahh, Lee-Kahn, you've managed to teach him to speak very well, despite your..."

I shook my head, and gestured at the guards at the doors, and then the physician.

"Ah! Of course. Well, Arashi, come closer, you are my son, you do not have to stand back, as Lee-Kahn does." She gestured him forward.

He looked at me quickly, and I nodded, shooing him towards her gently.

He took a few hesitant steps forward, and then flinched when she laughed loudly, jumping all the way back the three steps he'd taken, hiding behind me swiftly.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you! You're just so very handsome, I was quite relieved." She explained, her gentle smile beckoning him forward.

He hesitantly stepped towards her, and soon stood within arm's reach. She hummed and tapped his chin, turning him slowly, and viewing him from all angles, then held out her hand imperiously.

He touched her hand with his, confused, and she smiled. "Ahh, good. The ancestors have seen fit to cure your hands! Wonderful, yes... clearly the curse was only temporary." She glared at the physician coldly.

He fixed his spectacles, muttering. "I never said it was permanent."

Arashi tilted his head slowly. "My hands were cursed?" He asked.

She blinked, and gazed at me, then nodded. "Ah. I see... when you were born, Arashi-Kumo, your hands were almost as big as they are now, much bigger than they were supposed to be. The physician proclaimed you cursed, and sent you away with Lee-Kahn, to keep me safe, because I was just from childbirth, and any bad luck could have killed me." She explained gently.

He blinked slowly, then grinned widely. "That doesn't make any sense. I'm not bad luck, or else Lee-Kahn would be very dead."

She laughed softly. "I suppose that's true, yes. And I see your eyes have darkened a bit, with age... good. Now, of course, you may live in the main house-"

"I have to move? But I like my house!" He protested.

I cleared my throat, and when he looked at me, I narrowed my eyes slowly.

"Oh... right. Lee-Kahn says I must not be rude... I am sorry, mother. I didn't mean to be disrespectful." He sighed, looking at his shoes.

She smiled. "I understand, that Tower has been your home, but you can come live with me and your brother, now! And Lee-Kahn will still be your guard, of course."

"Guard? Lee-Kahn doesn't guard me, he takes care of me. I though he was my-"

I cleared my throat again, shaking my head.

"Oh, I suppose you would have thought he was your father... no, dearest child. Your father is the Emperor." She said simply.

He blinked, then turned to me fully, giving her his back, making me tense up, and gaped at me incredulously. "Lee-Kahn, you're the Emperor?!?!?" He exclaimed, shocked.