Kensei Jon's Arc

Chapter 7 of 49

They ran through the dark streets while the sky went gray. Kensei held the scroll tight to his chest. Jeon-min kept pace at his side. But a cold thought slowed Kensei's steps. His father had a head start now. The king could reach the judges first. He could deny the ledger's charges, claim the demotion was just, and clear his own name before dawn. Then Kensei's testimony would collapse. He needed a witness to the demotion. The master who kept the ledger of servant crimes had signed the record. Only the master could prove the demotion happened at all. Kensei stopped in the street. "We can't just carry the scroll," he said. "My father will speak first. He'll call it a lie." Jeon-min gripped his arm. "Then what do we do?" "We bring the master," Kensei said. "He signed the ledger. He saw the demotion. If he stands before the judges, my father can't deny it." They turned back toward the servants' quarters. The master's rooms sat below the palace, near the storehouse. Kensei knew the way. He had walked it as a Hikari, and now he walked it as a Hikui, careful of every shadow. He found the master awake, bent over a wide book by candlelight. The master looked up. His eyes went to Kensei's plain servant clothes, then to the scroll. "You," the master said. He did not stand. "You threw away your blood for a servant. Now you come to my door." "I came to show you this," Kensei said. He unrolled the top of the scroll. "Old law. A master loses his seat if he lets a Hikari fall for love without cause. You signed my demotion. My father ordered it because I loved Jeon-min. When the judges read this, they'll blame you too. Unless you speak first." The master's hand went still on the book. He read the crest. He read the king's own hand below it. His face changed, the way Kensei's father's had in the library. Fear crept in. "He would let me hang for his crime," the master said quietly. "He would," Kensei said. "Come with me. Tell the judges what you saw. Save yourself." The master closed the book. He rose and took his cloak. "I keep records," he said. "I do not burn for another man's sin." They reached the palace as the first light struck its gold roof. Guards stood at the tall doors. Kensei walked between the master and Jeon-min. Inside, the judges sat at a long table. His father stood before them already, mouth open to speak. Kensei stepped forward and set the scroll on the table. "This is the king's hand," he said. "And this man signed the ledger. Ask him what he saw." The master bowed his head and spoke. "The demotion was for love. There was no just cause." The king went silent. The judges leaned in. The lie was dead.