Tetsu applied the last stroke of paint to her lips then turned to stare at the child.

“You will come with me tonight,” she said in a grave monotone. Kiri’s eyes widened with fear, even though she had only the slightest idea of what the geisha at the Silk Lily did on their missions.

“I can’t!” she squeaked, backing away.

“Mother Yuki would agree. You are a maiko of our okiya now. You must learn.”

A single blue tear dropped from the young girl’s eye and steamed on the floor, but Tetsuko was past being surprised. She wanted Kiri with her: perhaps the girl’s curse could be useful, especially considering how violent her next client was rumoured to be. Yuki had given Tetsu this mission for a reason; it was either to be her last; or her greatest achievement to cement her position as the premier assassin of the Silk Lily after the brilliant Misuhana had failed to keep her place.

Kiri sat hunched in the corner, eyes still wide, staring at a blue wisp of a child just behind the door.