Arrivals and Arrangements

This is to be the autobiography of the first Amethyst Champion. Whoever finds this after my death may choose to do with it as they wish. Whether you seek to preserve my legacy or cast doubts upon it, I only ask that you do not alter my words and present my thoughts as they are on these pages. I am speaking to you, Todakoro-san.
 
I was filled with such dread and anticipation when I arrived that day. I never suspected what was to come. I expected petty politics and my very presence to be questioned due to my gaijin appearance. The number of voices clamoring would be even greater with the Emperor freshly dead and one of his children in attendance. Oh, how wrong they all were to think this is the place where they would gain influence in any future court.
 
One would think Ikoma Kimiko was executing people within the Great Hall; that was the strength of people's reactions to removing and cutting the banners from the walls, listing the failures of the Great Clans as she did so. Notably, my Clan, the Unicorn, were not mentioned, though this is a double edged sword in itself. She did not see us as failures. But we were also not worth mentioning. This would change quickly, but that would be skipping ahead.
 
A week later, a new banner was raised, that of her brother, the East Wind. He did not attend himself, however. Instead we were graced by the poise and wit of Kakita Akihiro, a man who would soon gain my trust and one day be counted as my friend. With him was his betrothed, Otomo Amayaiko... who I shall speak of again, at length.
 
I first met them both, ironically enough, in the dojo beneath Claw Point Castle. To further the irony, I was in those depths for political reasons: that was where the Princess had chosen to spend that day before the Sumai ceremony and I wished to know the woman who may one day rule the Emerald Empire. My greatest hope was the opportunity to spar, so that I may know her by the way she moved and struck and defended. Alas, I never had the chance; she and Akihiro were making introductions to each other and she challenged him, a spindly Shugenja, to participate in our training exercise, moving through kata while weighed down by stones. Rather than the wooden and netted armor we were all using, he showed off with an invocation and gave himself mystical armor that could similarly be weighed. I challenged him on this, at the time, it seemed an insult to the exercise.
 
I laugh now as I write this. It was such a petty contention, and yet it set the foundation for our relationship and the Princesses' respect for me that I, someone ranked and esteemed so much lower than he, would openly question him so. We never had the opportunity to see who had the greater mental and physical discipline; our game was interrupted by the arrival of a Lion general, Akoda Taruto, who just above ground had burst into the Castle and was making an unsightly scene of challenging Kimiko-hime and her removal of the Lion banner. By the time we reached them, ready for a brawl if nothing else, the Lion had already been tamed by the Scorpion into playing Go. And everything remained calm until the Sumai. It was to be the last calm hours of the Winter Court.