I listened to the faint rustle of leaves outside the latticed window as I sat quietly, amused by my brush and ink as I drew saucy little birds across the paper and listened to the Fourth Minister drone on and on about policies and harvests. All sorts of dull agricultural things – I felt a moment of pity for the man. He had an ‘important’ job, because the country needed to eat, but there was no way under Heaven to make his job interesting.

I caught a glimpse of Shugo, his politely interested gaze sliding toward my silk curtains for the briefest of moments. He was bored, too. I added another bird to my paper and set the drawing aside. Lady Furo glanced my way with a pursing of her lips – she could tell I was up to no good, but she couldn’t tell that the slight gap below the bottom of my curtain allowed Shugo to see what I’d drawn. I nudged the paper to a better angle, then began practicing my poetry with an innocent expression.

I risked a glance through the curtains a moment later to see Shugo smiling.