***
His eyes, like polished lacquer, flickered with firelight, deep and grim.
The young man's eyes were usually exceptionally clear, but now they seemed shrouded in a black mist.
After a long moment, he said in a low voice, "So it was a dead end all along."
A heavy silence fell, broken only by the CRACKLE and POP of sparks from the fire.
"Little General," Amy clapped her hands lightly and smiled at him. "Weren't you just talking about serving the nation with utmost loyalty and swearing to die for your country? Why the sudden fear now?"
"If I had been born in a time of chaos with no one but myself, my death would mean little. But now, with my family and country in peril, even if I have the heart to repay them with my life, I fear it won't be enough to save a great house on the verge of collapse."
