Seasons of the Sword

Meet Lady Chiyome's army of "Deadly Blossoms"—before Risuko does!

After a century of brutal civil war has torn Japan apart, Lady Mochizuki Chiyome gathers together the most unlikely army imaginable to unite the empire and bring an end to the bloodshed: an army of girls clad in the red and white garb of miko, shrine maidens.

An army of kunoichi.

Together, these girls work as spies, as bodyguards, as assassins—going where no soldier could go, doing what no soldier could do.

Here are six stories of the kunoichi, set before the award-winning Seasons of the Sword novels (Risuko, Bright Eyes, and Kano):

1. "White Robes"—Mired in her own grief, Lady Mochizuki Chiyome encounters two young women who give her a whole new, much more interesting opportunity
2. "Silk & Service"—A young Takeda warrior meets a servant who is much more than she seems
3. "Waiting for Kuniko"—Mieko is waiting at a rendezvous behind enemy lines. In the rain. Without a hat. The person who comes up the road is the last person she expected to encounter.
4. "Wild Mushrooms"—A Hōjō commander is delighted when two pretty young shrine maidens enter his camp on the evening before a battle. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been.
5. "Ghost"—At a banquet to celebrate a new alliance, Chiyome contemplates murder, and discovers a new servant
6. "Schools for Talented Youngsters: Monthly Headmistresses’ Dinner"—Three unique ladies get together once a month to share the joys and challenges involved teaching young ladies with very particular...talents (historical fantasy/crossover).