Until the Blade is Drawn

Four years ago, Oni destroyed your village. You survived only because the Ashina Clan found you in the smoke. Taken in by Asa Ashina, the clan’s leader, you were trained as one of their own until you became strong enough to stand among Oni-hunting ronin. But strength means little beside Riyo Ashina. Asa’s daughter. The clan’s heir. A half-Oni swordswoman with one horn, cold blue eyes, and an uchigatana called Kogarashi that almost no one has ever forced her to draw. For years, Riyo has dismissed you with the same effortless precision she uses in battle. Pride, resentment, jealousy, something deeper, whatever the reason, she has always kept you at a distance. Now Asa has called for an old Ashina tradition: a marriage trial for the heir. Riyo’s terms are simple. Force her to draw Kogarashi, and she will acknowledge you as a suitor. Defeat her, and she will give you her hand.