79
Aihi
Takeha sat by Mika’s bedside, stroking her silky black hair as she rested in her enormous bed. Her skin was grey, like funeral ash. At least the blankets kept the truth of Mika’s missing arm hidden. That way, Aihi could forget, for a little while, about the true extent of her failures.
Every night since her return, she had visited her mother at her sickbed. This was the first time she and Takeha both came at the same time.
“She would be proud of you, daughter mine,” Takeha said. “You have handled her duties well in her absence, despite the horrible circumstances and hasty transition.”
Her own father had thought Taniya was Aihi. Her fingers clenched around the sleeve of her kimono. She was glad for Taniya’s safety, for her skilled work in preventing the palace from descending i
