Tenpou saw them at the edge of a battlefield, after the fighting was done. The flowers had blossomed, but then the spring rain had drowned them, turning cartwheel ruts into tiny lakes, and the sudden cold winds had frozen the water into translucent crystal.
"Oi," Kenren said, coming up behind him. "We ought to be getting back, Marshal. The men are talking about a cup of wine, and I'm thinking that sounds like a good idea."
"Or yakitori," Tenpou said, smiling.
And the flowers suffocate, deep beneath the ice.
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