Jose's WTF face set in and wouldn't leave for a good while.

"...You have to do some explaining, Senor, for I don't quite follow. Last time I checked she was considered a daughter of Ricardo Cornejo, just a Tortoise captain after Bregos took La Corna. Is Jama also a bastard of that Tortoise captain? You don't feel your Merenaese is failing you and you don't quite grasp what 'a sister' is?"

"The skins we wear for the sake of the world itch sometimes." He agreed, accepting her touch as he continued his, reaching up to where the flow of her hair was altered by her ear underneath, and tracing its shape. "And here we can shed them for a while."

"Look at me."

He took her chin and moved to face him, his eyes focused, his gaze unrelentingly regal.

"What you must understand about me, Iuchi Ruqqayah, is that I am my father's son, and he was an extraordinary man. He lived in two worlds, and had the will to define his own rules of inhabiting them. He was born into one faith but presided over another, changing it forever. He brought down the powerful while remaining humble. He was raised as a fugitive but transcended it hundredfold. When he met the woman he fell in love with, he married her the same night, handfasting before the innkeeper, even though all had conspired to betroth him in his infancy to a princess. Had he known that that woman had given him a daughter with as strong a character as his own mother, I have little doubt he would have made her his heiress. He was unbound, unlimited by conventions, habits, customs, expectations or imaginations of lesser men. He had the audacity to look beyond all of them and bring about change. I will consider my wife wasted if I don't rise to at least similar greatness, by ways and means few expect, by demonstrating that I shun the impossible."

He pulled her lip down with his thumb, intensity flaring in his gaze.

"If you are willing to accept that half of me that belongs to your world, I will marry you, Iuchi Ruqqayah. If you desire me as much as I desire you, I will be your husband and I will join your family. To the Unicorn, I shall be Iuchi Ban then, the sahir you will tutor. But in other worlds I will carry other names and I will lead other lives. Tell me if you disagree."

The armies of Chephren were waiting confidently, having laid a trap in the marshlands along the Nahr'umar, and their scouts had warned them that the Unicorn were coming. But nothing prepared them to face the double impact of Mamluk salvos and bombardment and repeated cavalry charges. The Senpet forces were quickly routed into the swamp, and by the end of the day their casualties could be counted in tens of thousands, and hundreds of chariots. Chephren, the Khadi general, fled from the battlefield, escaping Unicorn retribution and the assured wrath of the Pharaoh. But as the Great River carried all the blood spilled during the battle downstream to the very Eye of the Desert, it fulfilled an ancient prophecy of doom and the Pharaoh and his family committed suicide by entombing. His capital would indeed be soon sacked and burned by the Unicorn, innumerous old treasures would be captured, and many people would be taken into slavery. The Jewel, however, would not meet such fate. After first bombardments which made breaches in the Prophet's Walls, then Sultan would surrender the city and agree to pay haraj as a vassal of the Unicorn.

This whole thread! My heart! </3

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"If I recall the story correctly, Haruka-san, Lady Doji presented many maidens to choose from to the First Hantei but he wanted none of those. Instead, he chased a siren's song from the Lost Daughter Inlet and secluded himself from all in the Bay of Green Coral until he discovered the hiding place of Mioko and took her as his bride. I don't fit well in that story..."

Tsugiko raised her eyes at Haruka, suddenly having an idea that felt excellent to her.

"Do you think he would sail to find me if I disappeared on one of those islands among the mist?"

He hugged her gently from behind.

"Things have not gone the way I hoped, but I've earned back some of my standing. We've both become more than what we were when we set sail." He just held her for a moment. "I can't return to the Empire yet. When I do, however, things will change. We can be married. We can have a family."

"Avast!" Looking back, the captain sounded a new alarm. "Brace abox! We are not losing another ship! Bring her alongside!"

The crew was confused, at first. Only the more seasoned understood, flatening the foreyards and slowing the Yamato Maru to bring the Walrus closer.

Anzai also studied the tableau as they sailed closer. And then the voice of the snake woman. Looking to her, he found himself ashamed that his first thoughts were not about hownthey could help her.

He clutched the braid on his wrist, as if reminding himself of his loyalty.

This whole damn thread, in which Utsu confronts her darkest fears, even if she cannot defeat them:

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Seconded. I am impressed by how Utsu faced and handled that. And the fact that she dared.

Much love.

"Your sister will take Ashitae Maru straight to Aqahba, while you are allowed to take Yamato Maru to Merenae. I have yet to speak with my cousin Tori about where she thinks her creative faculties be best applied as the Stingray is deprived of strategic salience as a vessel of the Navy at the moment. Gusai-san has been issued a leave to take the Walrus on endeavours outside the direct supervision of the Imperial Navy. The command over the flagship shall be entrusted to Kitsu-san who has proven his mettle; the Admiral has lost his patience with Muhaki-san and he shall be dismissed from the Explorers. Matsu-san will temporarily command Kunshu Maru on our way back to Rokugan. The Admiral will personally lead the Royal Bounty, while Seppun Kaiya-san will command the Retribution. Who will receive the honour of renaming them will be decided at a later date."

Yajinden recounted.

"After assessing condition of the fleet and the crews a fair assessment is that we need at least a few days to fully prepare for departure. I have taken care of restocking, but the battle has taken a heavy toll on the crews. The remaining Teppodoka will be split between the two squadrons."

He looked at Edogawa.

"I will be joining you on Yamato Maru. Shiba-san will join your sister. The Admiral has decided that the custodians of Unicorn treasures retrieved two days ago should be better protected."