The afternoon sun warmed the crisp air in the courtyard at Shiro Kitsuki, and Mirumoto Kei enjoyed the moment of fleeting warmth, knowing all too well that winter’s chill would settle over the mountains soon enough. She had lived in the Dragon mountains her entire life, but she had never truly grown accustomed to the harsh winters there. The fleeting summer and spring… those were the times she lived for.

“Kei, your admirer has returned.”

The Dragon officer sighed as she was brought back from her moment of bliss. She glanced sidelong at her friend with mock irritation. “I did not imagine he had gone,” she said quietly. “Were he to follow me any closer, I should have to erect a screen in my chambers to have privacy while I slept.”

Bayushi Saya laughed. It was a bright, cheerful sound that seemed utterly genuine, even though Kei often wondered if her friend was half as cheerful as she presented. Despite the fact that they had been friends since they met several seasons ago, Kei never felt she truly understood Saya. That, she imagined, was the price one paid for standing as allies with the Scorpion. If doubt was to be the greatest of her sins, however, then she would gladly accept it.

Saya glanced over at the Lion warrior watching them with a coy expression. “I suppose he wakes each day with a desperate prayer to the Fortunes that today the great Mirumoto Kei will make some horrific social error and he will finally have reason to challenge you to a duel.”

“I do not doubt that,” Kei said darkly. “The Lion do not forgive.”

“They cannot,” Saya explained. “They must not. It is their nature. The Right Hand cannot remove its armor”

The two women sat at a go board and pretended to play. It was a long-standing joke between the two, something to occupy their time and keep others from intruding upon them so that they may converse in peace. Kei watched as a Crane passed by, followed by at least a half dozen admirers who seemed to be hanging on his every word. She frowned irritably. “What is that one’s name again?”

“Kakita Funaki,” Saya answered. “Handsome enough, if you prefer imbeciles.”

“I preferred it when he used exaggerated tales of his military prowess to win the hearts of women,” Kei said quietly. “His constant prattling of enlightenment is far worse.”

Saya raised her eyebrows. “But have you not been listening? The Crane obviously understand the true path to enlightenment, else they could not have secured so many representatives among Rosoku’s Keepers of the Elements.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “I am certain Asahina Sekawa values Funaki’s counsel highly, based on his claims.”

Kei shook her head, uninterested in Saya’s playful demeanor. “Enlightenment is not a game or a contest, and it certainly is not something to be used to woo beautiful dullards,” she said, her voice growing more frustrated.

Saya drew back, her expression more serious. “You are not the first Dragon I have heard say such things,” she said quietly. “I think more than a few of your clan are upset that the Crane solved Shinsei’s riddle first.”

“Do not misunderstand,” Kei explained. “Sekawa is a great man. What he and his Keepers have achieved is worthy of the greatest respect and admiration, but the exploitation of it by fools like Funaki… it is almost blasphemous.”

“Some might say the Dragon are jealous,” Saya said. “You and your people have spent centuries in the mountains contemplating the mysteries of the world, and the Crane seem to have found them with so little effort.”

“Jealous?” Kei laughed. “Believe what you wish, Scorpion. The Crane claim that they are enlightened?” Her face darkened. “Then let them prove it.”