62
Masanori
They arrived at the orchards outside the port city of Meishoken at the beginning of Monkey’s month. Dew-covered fruit trees sparkled in the afternoon light, rows of crimson cherries on one side, and trees filled with green-yellow yuzu that weren’t quite ready for harvest on the other.
There were prized peach and plum trees in the palace gardens, but never so large an orchard within Nagasou city limits. While approaching Meishoken’s crude outer walls, Masanori imagined the sweet juicy taste of those cherries bursting in his mouth, so ripe they were splitting on the trees. His stomach growled. They’d skipped breakfast that morning to preserve the last of their rations, just in case they misjudged the distance to Meishoken.
Several guards lingered by the gate and parapets to d
