Year of the Boar, Eighth Month, Day 31 .

After several days of travelling through White Lake, stopping only for food or a short time to rest before pushing on, we have reached an inn near the border of Purple Lightning. The gods have stayed with me thus far and we have remained unmolested by Shigeru or any of his retainers. I do not know where he is or which route he decided to take in order to return to Fallen Sakura and I wish I could say that I do not care... I do care; it is impossible to anticipate what an enemy will do when one does not know their whereabouts. I did not need years of schooling in military strategy in order to learn that! According to Atsuko, who has it from the Diplomats' mouths, we have taken the shortest possible route up through White Lake; I do not think there is any chance that he could have travelled faster than we have but there is no guarantee that he is not on our heels waiting for his chance to make good on his threats. There is no guarantee either, that Tsuyoshi and Ichiko are not in league with him; Dying Crane woule be as useful to them as it would be to Shigeru were he to occupy my Lands... We have stopped here in order to rest thoroughly before setting foot on Purple Lightning's Lands. I have given the Diplomats instructions to find horses and pack only what I cannot replace once I return home. I will take my mourning silks since it is difficult to replace those; only a handful of seamstresses in the Kingdom will make them and none on my side of the Kingdom. I suppose I could foster better relations with my neighbours in the Seventh Kingdom and find out whether anyone there could do but for now, I must make do with what I know to be fact.

Once we have rested and sufficient horses have been acquired, we will ride through the top of Purple Lightning as fast as possible, stopping only in extreme circumstances, until we cross the border into the Seventh Kingdom. We will rest there as soon as an inn can be found and from there, we will travel as quickly as we can into my Lands. I can only hope that we willl reach Dying Crane before Shigeru manages to send troops over my border; were I in his shoes, that is exactly what I would do... an empty House would be the perfect opportunity to occupy the House and Lands. I have told the Diplomats that as soon as they are able, they must send a messenger back to the House. He is to travel on horseback right through Fallen Sakura, stopping only if he dies, and aprise the Diplomats who have remained at the House of the situation. The army is to be deployed about the Lands in case Shigeru does try to invade Dying Crane. 

I have tried to push this from my mind for a while and think upon more pleasant things but it is difficult to think of anything other than this constant threat and I cannot even smoke... I woke this morning with that familiar nagging ache deep in my belly and I could think only of how badly I would like to take a pipe and make all of this go away... I tried to talk to Nanami earlier but nothing came of it since all I could manage once I finally plucked up the courage to speak was to ask her how she fared to which I got the sharpest of replies that she was perfectly well. How am I to manage this situation...? Perhaps I should confide in Atsuko but I have no wish to humiliate Nanami by involving another... Why could my life not have been different..? Did the gods despise me before I even left my mother's womb or was I such a dreadful child that I deserve this constant punishment...?