On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

“Kyushu, don’t you think it’s time for you to retire?” Empress Akira asked her youngest daughter, who sat on the floor of the small room in front of the burning fireplace. The Empress (although now her title may be in jeopardy) and Kyushu had spent all day awaiting the arrival of Lieutenant Zhao, third in command of the Wei Song army, who had written to Akira and announced he would be coming to speak with her before sunset. It was now sunset and the air outside was eerily quiet. There was no sign of Zhao or his heavy, loud machinery or of the townspeople scrambling to hide.
Kyushu wanted to be there when Zhao arrived. She wanted to know where her father was and where her two brothers were. She wanted to know if her sisters were okay, wherever they may be. And most importantly, she wanted to know why she and her mother had been exiled. But with no signs of Zhao, or even his army, her hope faded and began to dwindle away. Her grey eyes glistened against the bright flames crackling in the fireplace and beads of sweat formed right at her hairline.
This wasn’t the first time Zhao had backed down on his promise. The first time was when Kyushu and her mother had been placed, rather forced, onto ferries that carried them away from the mainland and Fen Dao. Zhao promised he would read them their charges, their Exile Proclamation, and tell them where they were going but he never did. Kyushu and her mother only learned they were in Fen Song from a refugee, escaping Zhao’s army.
“I knew he wouldn’t come,” Kyushu whispered, hanging her head in defeat. “I don’t know why I even believed him for a second.”
Akira sighed. “You put too much faith in the enemy, Kyushu.” She rested her needlework on the small, plain, wooden table beside her and turned to the only maid they were allowed to have, a country girl named Harumi. “Would you help Kyushu get ready for bed? It is past sunset and she needs her rest.”
Harumi, a tall, slender girl of twenty-five, helped Kyushu to her feet. She didn’t know the princess was blind until she had been working with the family for three weeks. Kyushu carried on her daily tasks pretty much alone and argued with her mother when she wasn’t allowed to do certain things. Akira told Harumi that Kyushu had the spirit of her father and grandfather. Both were natural-born leaders and didn’t like to be given orders. They wanted to do everything by themselves and felt they needed to prove something to everyone. Qualities not typically seen in girls, but Kyushu wasn’t just any girl.
Kyushu gave her mother a quick peck on the cheek and allowed herself to be guided to her bedroom. It was a small room, not much bigger than the main room. There was a bed, a small dresser, and a vanity by the window. Kyushu had been allowed to take some possessions from home, including pictures she hung on the wall above her bed. They were mostly pictures of Kyushu and her four elder siblings. There was one picture of Kyushu’s twin niece and nephew from her sister, Keiko, taken at their first birthday party by the royal photographer.