Chapter 11: Lantern in the Window

The Hero's quartermaster was a small round man in a blue coat, and he had a list.

He stood in her dining room dripping onto the floor, with twelve soldiers behind him and a clerk at his elbow.

He read from the list without looking up.

"By order of His Excellency the Hero, the Tomoshibi Inn is requisitioned for two nights."

"The Hero and the Princess arrive tomorrow. Rooms One through Six are to be vacated, scrubbed and aired."

"Requisitioned," said Hanae.

"The kitchen will be under the command of the royal cooks. You will be permitted to assist."

"Assist."

"You will be reimbursed at the Crown's standard rate."

"Which is?"

He told her.

It was a third of her posted price.

Behind her, the two rice merchants quietly picked up their bowls and left for the stable.

Tamae put her ladle down very slowly, which Hanae knew was worse than if she'd thrown it.

"No," Hanae said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No. This is a private inn. My grandmother's name is on the deed."

"Swords go on the rack, guests pay the posted price, and the kitchen is mine."

"If the Hero wants to eat here, he can eat what I cook."

"Miss Morikawa." The quartermaster sighed through his nose as if she were a clerk's error.

"You are the Hero's neighbor. You are, if I may say, a village girl. This is a great honor."

"His Excellency has been kind enough to..."

"Kind enough to send me ten gold and tell me to buy something nice. I know."

"Then you will not make this difficult."

"I'm making it very difficult," Hanae said. "Watch."

The stairs creaked.

She did not turn around.

She knew the sound of that step already, long and unhurried, with one foot slightly heavier than the other.

Jiro came down into the dining room in his shirtsleeves with his left arm in a loose sling, and stopped on the bottom stair.

He did not say a word.

He only looked at the quartermaster.

The little round man's face went from pink to white to a color she had only ever seen on tallow.

The twelve soldiers behind him snapped upright as one, and the clerk dropped his pen.

"Master Kurogane," the quartermaster whispered.

He bowed.

He bowed so low that his list slid off his fingers and fluttered onto the floor, and he did not pick it up.

"Is there something you wanted?" Jiro asked mildly.

"No, sir. That is, I had no idea, sir."

"I was informed that you had... that you were..." He swallowed. "I will not trouble you, sir."

"It is not my house," said Jiro. "Speak to the lady."