Chapter Text
There were eyes on Kagero.
She was used to that by now, of course. She had spent quite a few years as queen by this point; she had been by Ryoma's side longer. She could still hide, of course, but she had gotten much more comfortable being watched in her time in the limelight.
These eyes were different.
They were not the adoring gaze of the civilians who worshipped Ryoma and the rest of the royal family. They were not the teasing eyes of Hinoka or the trying-to-be-confident gaze Sakura had learned to adopt or even the trying-to-be-neutral-because-I-don't-know-what-to-think look that Takumi usually gave her, especially at dinners.
But Kagero tried to ignore it. The palace was safe; Saizo would have alerted at least her if there was a security issue, even if he didn't bother Ryoma with the details. She was being paranoid; she hadn't been sleeping well with the ever-pervasive heat accompanying the height of summer. It was possible the gaze she felt on her neck was simply sweat that refused to dissipate.
She sat through the rest of the meal and forced herself to ignore the panic that was slowly forming in her chest. She guided Shiro to bed, tucking him beneath the sheets and chuckling at his complaints about the heat that she, too, could barely stand. Ryoma stood in the doorway as he often did, a small smile on his face as he watched his little family with his readers still balanced on the tip of his nose, and Shiro babbled his usual good-night to him.
"Sleep well, my little gentleman," Ryoma said, smiling at Shiro's little giggle.
"Sleep well, Shiro," Kagero said, leaning down and kissing Shiro's forehead. He snuggled deeper into the sheets, closing his eyes. She waited for just a minute before standing; she expected for Shiro to protest, asking her to stay longer, but it seemed sleep had already taken him. He had been wearing himself out playing with Asugi of late, it seemed.
Kagero certainly wouldn't complain.
Ryoma wrapped an arm around her as they walked to their chambers, and she leaned her head against his as they walked. The eyes on her must have been a figment of her imagination after all; they were gone now. Perhaps it was simply a servant who had a bad day. Surely, that was all it was.
They entered their chambers and Ryoma's shoulders immediately fell. Kagero smiled as she helped him out of his regalia; allowing him to be not a king, but a man was always the most sacred of her duties as queen. She put the jewelry in its cases, hung his robes on the hooks where they belonged; Ryoma swept her into a kiss before she could begin to undress herself. She chuckled against his lips, closing her eyes and enjoying it.
"I'm not sure how you can stand this heat," Kagero said, pulling away and reaching up to wipe at the sweat beading along her brow.
"You typically wear more layers than I do," Ryoma pointed out, reaching forward and untying the first of the aforementioned layers. She chuckled, allowing him to untie the various ties around her body.
She reached up and took care of her hair herself, pulling the butterfly pin Hinoka had gifted her for her birthday from the center of her bun and feeling the other jewels surrounding it fall slightly. Ryoma looked up at the tinkling sound, moving to help her, but she waved him off with a smile.
Kagero could barely be bothered to pull on a thin nightgown, the heat still pervading around her. She hugged Ryoma, preventing him from crawling into bed for a moment (god knows she wouldn't be able to put up with the heat he constantly emitted and blankets), and he chuckled, indulging her for a moment and swaying her, just slightly.
And then there was a sound.
She wasn't sure what about it keyed her in. Maybe it was the softness of it; maybe it was the specific cloths that were being worn. But before she really processed what she was doing, she had spun Ryoma around, the lone shuriken she kept on her nightstand thrown without thinking as pain burst in her side. She heard choking, heard Ryoma saying something, but she couldn't grasp either detail in their entirety as she collapsed to a knee, clutching at her wound.
It was hot.
She looked up even as her periphery began to white out. She grit her teeth, blinking into focus as she looked at the would-be assassin.
They were dead, or at the very least dying, lying on the ground with her shuriken embedded in their neck. They wore the regalia of an esteemed Mokushujin ninja.
Her own clan, turned against her. She almost laughed.
But then Ryoma swam into her vision, and she knew he was saying something but could not piece together what. Her world spun, and she processed her shoulder hitting the ground hard, and her vision went black.
"Kagero!"