by Jessie Wolf
The man still didn’t get it. I could see it in his face. Even Doctor Brim couldn’t get him to understand. “The hardest part of their training will be with their upgrades Lenard.” When he still didn’t get it, for a teacher the man was a little on the dense side at times.
“I’ll be the one who trains them as Death Dealers.”
It was at this point the man finally grasps the full weight of what we are doing with the Daughters of the Dragon Ryōjin. They won’t be just Temple Guardians, but an extension of House Nakatoma. One that will surpass the Emperor’s most elite military force in time. The fact that the second generations joining the Emperor’s Death Dealers were not as powerful as my family or soon to be Dragons Daughters was not lost on the man.
“Are you planning on challenging the Emperor?” he had real concern in his voice.
“No sir, I and my family have been long time supporters of the Empire as it is. However, for too long the Empire has been without a reliable neutral force of peacekeepers. That is what this Sisterhood shall be.”
“Might I know where the idea came from, Lady Maiha? It has the sound of a grand and beautiful ideal. A force of peacekeepers and protectors of justice is a truly grand idea.” The more the man talked the more passion for the idea he had. “If our school could become known as the home of these peace keepers it would be spectacular.”
“The idea sir is one that has been around for a long, long, long time. You see there were four orders of knights that formed just such as force during the First Empire of Humanity. The Order of the Dragon Ryōjin was just one of those orders. The other three have been lost to time, and with them the checks and balances within the Temple’s.” mama took up the story of the lost orders for me. Like most Death Dealers I had heard of these Knights of the old Imperial Republic, how they had stood for peace, justice, and compassion. They were the real defenders of the Empire in ancient times.
“So, Lady Dai Etsu, you wanted to revive these long dead Knights of the Republic? What of the two Brotherhoods? Who will bring them back? After all JES is a school for girls.” Doctor Brim was fascinated with what mama wanted to do.
Mr. Lenard was able to supply that answer. “Doctor Brim, if you read our charter there is no restriction on allowing boys to attend JES. We can open our doors to male students if they are members of a Brotherhood belonging to the Temple annex.”
“I know just the school that we can partner with in this endeavor.” At my questioning look Doctor Brim just smiled. “The Jacob Salomon all boys school. Their campus grounds butts up next to ours on the backside. If we move the new annex to where it sits between the two schools we claim that it belongs to both.”
Now I had a question for them. “Will their Headmaster go along with this sir? Can we even get permission from the other school to do this?”
“To answer your questions, Lady Maiha, in a word yes to both. Why I believe that if you let the boys of that school know that they can join your Temple order you will have more volunteers than you know what to do with.” Brim was almost bouncing with excitement over joining the two schools in this manner. Something he was wanting and I want to know what it is. “I also believe that once word gets out back at our school you’ll have a flood of applicants.”
“Why is that, sir?” from the look on mama’s face when I asked this that she wanted to know as well.
With a heavy sigh, Doctor Brim looks over at Mr. Lenard who just nods his head yes. “One of the reasons is the students themselves. The other is why a good deal of them are at the two schools.”
“And just what does them being at a boarding school like ours have to do with any of this?”
“Our schools may have been premier boarding schools at one time, but that is no longer the case. For the past twenty years our two schools have become a dumping ground for the daughters and sons of the High Families, politically power, or filthy rich who have disappointed them. To be honest with you Lady Maiha our schools have become more like reform schools or substitutions for jail.”
“What?! I don’t understand. That is not how the charter was written.” Mama was as shocked over this as I was. “That school is supposed to be a finishing school, not some depository for delinquents. How did this happen?”
It was Alice who gave that answer, and I could tell that it brought up painful memories. “Mama, please understand. Most of the girls and boys in those schools have nowhere else to go. They have basically been disowned by their families, all because they refuse to be puppets in their power games. So they strike out against what they feel to be the cause of their oppression. It often leads them to facing a magistrate or some other justice official. I was one of those who were forced to go to one of these schools; it was that, or spend time in a juvenile detention facility. It was one of the reasons the Heathers were able to get away with so much. No one wanted to be sent to a JD facility.”
“And that is why you hated going to JES so much. I am sorry, Allison, for not thinking of why you did not want to return. Can you forgive an old woman for her short sightedness?” mama was really upset over finding out this piece of information about Alice’s past. Alice didn’t say a word and just wrapped mama in a hug.
“Ok, gentlemen, now that I know the whole deal with our school, and that of our brother school, it is time to make some changes. I take it that the school has full custody for the children that attend them?” both men just nodded their heads yes. “So the families have just written them off. Ok I can deal with that. What about the ones who attend who are not in the JD program, how many of those are there?”
Mr. Lenard had the actual numbers on those. “Of the six hundred and fifty three students that attend JES only two hundred and thirty-five are in the JD program, as you so lovingly called it, the rest are here because they are not exactly welcomed at home, Cassidy Pike is one of those.”
“I take it that our brother school is in the same situation?” They both nod their heads yes. “That explains why so many of our students just don’t care. They feel like they have nowhere to go when they leave here, unless they take the contrast marriages that their families have arranged.” Again I get the head nodding. “How many do you think will want to join the Sisterhood and Brotherhood once they hear about them?”
“To be honest, Lady Maiha, over ninety percent. You could get them all if you open the orders to non-combatants. I only have one concern. How will you get Jacob Salomon to open up their school to the idea?” of course Doctor Brim had to bring up the one sticking point, even though it was his idea to work with the other school. “What I mean is not the Headmaster, but their Regent.”
“Who is their Regent sir?”
“Lord Light and his House sponsor the school.” When he says that I almost burst out laughing. House Light, Daniels, and Moore no longer sponsor anything. They and their Heads are disbanded and outlawed. However Alice and Fuyuko can keep it in and start to giggle. “Did I say something funny?”
“Doctor Brim that House along with two others are now outlawed by command of the Emperor himself. As of two days ago House Nakatoma took over the running of not only our school but several others. I don’t know the exact number, but if Jacob Salomon was sponsored by House Light, then it is now one of those my House just picked up.”
“It was one of those our House has taken over, Maiha.” Mama was quick to answer my unspoken question. “I have yet to tour all the schools that we are now sponsoring; I am in the process though. I haven’t yet had a chance to visit Jacob Salomon School for Young Men.”
“Don’t worry about that mama, I believe that we can assume there is more going on in that school than they would like for us to know.” Turning to Doctor Brim and Mr. Lenard I smile as sweetly as I can and turn on the charm. “Gentlemen, I would ask a favor of you. I need the two of you to go to our brother school as our representatives and do a full inspection. I doubt they will try and hide anything from you as they will see you as equals. Can you do that for me?”
The t
wo men look at each other, and then smile back at me. Mr. Lenard answers for the both of them. “Consider it done, Lady Maiha. As a matter of fact if we can get a ride back to town tonight we can have the inspection done by the time you and our students return tomorrow afternoon.”
I don’t even think twice I wave over one of the House maids. “Lee, please, arrange for one of the House cars to be brought around for these gentlemen’s use.” the young girl nods her head and takes off to carry out my request.
“Your ride will be here soon, gentlemen. If I were you I’d gather your gear and be back here within a half hour. If I know my Household staff that car will be here in a quarter of an hour. I’ll tell the House Guard of your departure.”
Both men gave me and my family a quick bow and rush to collect their belongings. Turning back to mama I give her a smile. “Well, mama, it looks like your Knights of the Republic will be reborn.”
“No, child, they are not my Knights. They are yours to use as you see fit.”
Chapter 3
“Speaking of orders we need to get over to the Temple and see to what is left of the Silent Sisters. Not to mention checking in on our new Sisterhood. By the way mama why did you tell the other girls not to bother them tonight?” I really wanted to know what she was up to with this.
“I sent messages to Master William Gibson over in the House Armory and Mistress Lisbeth Salander over in the Temple Hospital.”
“Why those two, mama?”
“We’ll need a large amount of armor plate to help the girls with their conversions to full Death Dealers and Mistress Lisbeth Salander is in charge of the Death Dealer nanites.”
“NO!” I must have shocked everyone with that very unusual order to mama. Oh I have snapped and chew someone’s ass out, hell I have even carved one man up like a turkey once, but I have never, never snapped at mama like that. “We will not force any of these girls to become Death Dealers. If and only if they say yes after they have been told exactly what they’re getting into. I made the mistake once with all of you and we have been lucky so far. None of you have shown signs of splitting.”
Once again mama was two steps ahead of me. “Peace, child, peace. The reason I sent Nanase and Nanami on ahead with the Daughters of the Dragon is to explain to them what it means to be the Host to a Death Dealer AI and the responsibility that goes with it.”
“Ok, so long as they know what’s at stake, then if they say yes we’ll let the conversions happen. However they have to convince me that they really want this. I won’t let what happen to the Four Stars with the Silent Sisters happen to one of our novices.”
“And that Maiha is why I have chosen you to be the Mistress of Novices for the Sisterhood of the Dragon Ryōjin. You care what happens to these girls. They may have been a problem for the school, but in two days you have turned them from a path of self-destruction to one of service to a higher calling. You have given these girls hope for something better than what they faced before you came into their lives. You have more of these young ladies who wish to become something they can be proud of in their eyes alone, if no one else.”
“I am no messiah, mama. If anything I am the one they should be running from, screaming into the night. We both know that at the core of my being I am a stone cold killer. For over seventy years both friend and foe alike called me Death. Let’s not sugar the coatings here. You would have these girls be a force of peacekeepers cloaked in the guise of a religious order. The same goes for the boys who will join them at the Temple annex. However, no matter how we dress it up, no matter what we call them, they are and always will be an armed religious military force. No better than the Black Rose or Crimson Shield. The only difference will be the fact that they will oppose those two very corrupt orders.”
“No, child, they will be better than that. If for no other reason than it shall be you who trains them. And you are wrong about one very important matter. You are not and never have been as you put it a stone cold killer. Even in the throes of a full blown battle rage you do not kill indiscriminately. You showed mercy to fallen foes and left more than one alive to face justice or see a second chance. At your core, there is an honor of purest, strongest, tamahagane steel. That is why these new orders shall be better than any who have come before and those they shall face.” When mama finished she headed off for the Temple taking Alice and Fuyuko with her. Leaving me in the middle of the courtyard to think on her words.
I need time and peace to think, so I head for the family shrine. Twice in as many days I have found myself seeking the quiet of the place. As I step inside I notice that a painting of my old self now hung in the place next to my wife and daughter. I stepped over to the painting and see a placard that read ‘James J. Owens, Defender of House Nakatoma, First High Lord of the Death Dealers, honored by Friend and Foe alike the man they called Death.’ It was three inches wide and five long, made of solid brass. I step back after reading it and walk over to one of the benches that were placed here.
Sitting down I think back over my life too; all the hardship I have faced, all the battlefields where I earned my name, but that is not all that comes to mind. I also remember the good times. Having a few beers with my friends, making love to Matsu, the births of my two children, all of the things that made it worthwhile to wear the Imperial Black of the Death Dealers. Could I really be this shining example of hope for these girls? I mean deep down I’m a ninety seven year old man, but I don’t feel that way. Maybe that old saying about the body deciding how you feel has more impact and truth than people give it credit for.
“Once again you retreat, Death’s Daughter. Why is that?” I know he was there long before he said a word, but then Brother Timothy was not your ordinary monk. Of all the Temple monks he was one of the few who can call me that and get away with it.
“Good evening, Brother Timothy, what brings you out here?” he may be a monk now, but a few weeks ago he was one of the few APS pilots that could give Alice a run for her money. “I take it that my mother sent you out here to have a chat with me, again?”
“No, Lady Maiha, I saw your family enter, and you were not among them. So figured something was wrong or still bothering you from earlier with the Silent Sisters. So I just decided to come to the one place no one in their right mind would dare face off with you.”
“You know something, Tim, this is most likely the one place a person could piss me off and get away with it. So what is it you have to say?”
“When I first saw you, Lady Maiha, I knew that the House Military was about to go through a radical change. You turned a force of tradition bound men and women corrupted by pride and greed into something to be proud of. A force determined to be better than their past. A force for justice and peace. One that would not be corrupted again by outside forces. Then there is the loyalty you gained from the Death Dealers who were sent here to handle the rebel Houses. Where most planetary leaders would have used them alone to put down the rebels, you did not. You went out of the way to use mercenaries or our House units to fight them, but you still gave the Death Dealers a piece of land to call their own for their dead. You have by your actions of being honorable created two forces so dedicated to the forces of Light that none could stand against them. Men and women who would gladly place you on the Imperial throne. Do you think that any unit that is trained by you personally would be any less honorable?”
“To be truthful, Tim, I just don’t know. I find that I am beginning to doubt myself, and those I have long held as friends. I find myself at a crossroads of sorts. Do I support someone who has lied to me and kept me in the dark? Someone who is a family friend that has used tactics and means that I find unsavory to keep the peace. Or do I take steps to remove them and those who would abuse their power, and keep him in power. Do I even have the right to use this new Sisterhood to form a military force to carry out those actions? I just don’t know what to do any more.”
“Lady Maiha, I can only speak for myself, but if I may quote your grandfather. ‘If
it is within our power to establish a government of the people by the people then we must do so.’ He said that in a speech he gave to the Sand Hurst Military Academy on Earth Prime a little over twenty years ago. No offence, my Lady, but quit holding yourself to a standard that your own grandfather didn’t. He was a man of action and principle, true, but he knew when to place the greater good over his own beliefs. If you can use this new Sisterhood to tear out the cancer that has crippled the Temple system, then do so. If they can be used for more, then use them. I do not know all they may face, and neither do you. However you can give them the training to be far more than just Temple Guardians. Make them true peacekeepers.”
I wanted to pound the arrogant shit for using my own words against me, but damn it he was right. The system has been broken for too long, and my ‘old friend’ has been unable or unwilling to make the necessary changes. For too long his family has used the Death Dealers as a hammer for putting down rebellions instead of a force for keeping the peace. I have already taken care of one problem, time to take care of another. The Temples are supposed to be outside of the Political arena, the Black Rose and Crimson Shield have broken that trust. The Silent Sisters have acted as spies for the Imperial Intelligence Ministry violating their vows to promote their own agenda. These three orders have placed themselves above the others. Trying to make themselves the defacto spiritual leaders for the Empire. It’s time to remove them and return the Temples to their rightful orders and teachings.
Standing up I bow to the young monk. “Thank you, Brother Timothy, you have reminded me of a promise I made, and now it is time I started the fulfillment of that promise. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go take care of a problem, and set plans in motion.”
I never saw the smile that crosses the young man’s face as I head for the Temple. He had reminded me that I am more than just the Head of House for the Nakatoma family. I was more than a Planetary System Governor or the First High Lady of the Death Dealers. I may be all of these things, but at the core of my being I was the nightmare of all these things. I was the one that the Parliament and Hall of Lords ran screaming into the night over. I was the one the Emperor knew would come after him if he failed the people of the Empire, again. I was the one my enemies and friends called Death in a past life. Now, I am the one the Temples shall come to fear as I tear down their false beliefs. I am Death’s Own Daughter.
