“If you are referring to the Kami’s return, that was never my intention.” Lilith looked out the window at the summer idyll n the grounds of her home. Even the torrid heat and beauty of the lilacs in bloom failed to calm her crowing agitation. “The Kitsune awoke, and I heard Her cry.”

“I can’t imagine what that felt like. When you showed me all those years ago, I could not hope to understand. Now, with everything that’s happened…I think I do.”

“The Kami are not all that different to Thayne, though lesser in every respect. When the Shogun’s ways were quashed, people started to dream of their ancestors. The Kitsune embodies familial ties stretching through time and between planes. Finally, the dead could rest, and people had free will again.” Lilith had meditated on the implications of all that had changed in Akashima for days. It was only when Ruby slapped her in the face with her revelations that they started to sound pious and fantastical.

“You were always Akashima’s daughter. When you came to my house all those years ago, I tried so hard to tame that wild heart. Not even my most scrupulous methods could bend you to anything other than your okiya.”

“A meiko’s life ends in one of two ways, as well you know. Death, or her becoming a geisha.” Lilith softened a little and returned her gaze back to her sister. “As I’m alive, I’m sure you know how my life will end.”

“When Lysander kills the last Illar, he will end our connection to the Tap. Wherever you still see that life as a curse, or a blessing, it does not matter. It will be gone. All the power and platitudes that came with it will be gone.”

Lilith had long dreamt of a day when she could fear the number of her days. All the challenges she had faced had been muted against the knowledge that she would rise anew. Now, with Akashima ready for power to return to the Senate; suddenly she felt afraid.

“We have both lived for an insufferably long time.”

“A thousand lifetimes.” Ruby knew all too well the weight of her years. “I have lived since the first tribes settled these lands. I am part of their fables. They still sing of my deeds in Berevar’s cold heart. However you choose to take this news, we will all die interwoven with the history of this world.”

“That’s what scares me the most. We are fighting for free agency, for the right for man to choose his own destiny. Yet, how much of that history did we guide and cajole into what we perceived to be right?” Lilith set down her cup and readied herself to stand.