Having arranged the meeting, Doji Noriko does what she promised herself she would not do this court, and enters the Imperial Apartments. Smiling placidly at the Otomo that part before her, she presents herself to a guard and is conducted down the hall to a receiving room.

"Doji Noriko to speak with Seppun Sadako. She has an appointment." The guard seems almost impressed by the last statement.

The door to Sadako's room is standing open, and the Lady Seppun herself is seated, reviewing documents and making notations when Noriko arrives.

"Doji-san," she says, bowing from where she sits. "You had arranged an appointment to 'address an issue of concern,' I believe it was. Please, do sit. Will you have tea?"

"I would not think so, no, but our guest may have developed a thirst. Thank you for seeing me."

She bows deeply, and then settles into her seat.

"I had the most interesting visitor this morning, and his request put it in mind that you and his master needed to have a clearing of the air. I hope that I was not over-ambitious with your schedule?"

"You were not," Sadako says, the tone just barely suggesting the Lady Seppun was already beleaguered--and what's one more thing, then?

"I take it you refer to one Soshi Eiji," she adds, then, to interrupt any protest that might be coming, she raises a hand and continues. "There are logs. There are reports. I do tend to read them."

"I would expect nothing less," Noriko replied. "You are far from the only person to keep track of my movements, much as the others may try to deny it. I appreciate the candor. But yes, Soshi Eiji wanted to..."

There was a cough at the door.

"Bayushi Kaguya to speak with Lady Seppun," said the guard.

"...perhaps I shall let the one who sent him articulate it. I am not supposed to know their identity, but clearly." She raised her hands in a 'you know how it is' gesture.

Sadako nods, and she sets aside the papers she had been reviewing as Noriko moves to answer the door.

The door is opened to reveal Bayushi Kaguya in all her glory, that curious mask presented to the room, the dull eyes seated behind. The bows are crisp, a short one to Noriko, a deeper one to Sadako.

"Good. Evening," she manages, though it is clearly a hardship for her. "I...do not know where to begin."

"By coming in and sitting down, Lady Scorpion," Sadako says, bowing and gesturing to another cushion.

"And by letting me know if you will have tea."

The door shuts behind Kaguya.

Kaguya looks down at the table, then back at Lady Seppun, before edging her way stiffly toward the center of the room.

"Tea," she says quietly. "Thank you." Her cold eyes track Noriko as she moves across the room and sits across from Kaguya.

Sadako nods as she sips at her tea.

She waits for Kaguya to speak.
~~~~~
Damned post-ninjas.

Noriko looks up at Sadako. "Bayushi-sama sent Soshi Eiji to ask me to ask you for the Empress' visitor logs for the 4th and 5th days of court. It seemed to me that the two of you needed to clear the air much more than either of you needed what would have come from my doing so. I think we will all find the results far less frustrating than the alternatives."

Kaguya's mask swivels to face Sadako.

"I need them to determine who is responsible. There are too many who benefit. This must be the way."

"Who is responsible?" Sadako asks. "For Her Majesty's..."

Sadako closes her eyes for a few moments, breathes deeply.

"Her Majesty was not a young woman," she says. "And her health had been in decline for some time--which is not something that was widely known, although uncomfortably widely rumored.

"Are you so certain that something was done, Lady Scorpion, more than the work of age?"

Sadako meets the mask's gaze squarely.

"Of course! She was ill, but of what? And why was she not cured by a shugenja? The timing for the Empire's enemies is entirely too convenient. Someone wants the Hantei gone to seize power. It is clear."

"No shugenja can cure age, Lady Scorpion," Sadako says. "Not in the end. And such a patient would have had to consent to treatment, as well. Or would you have had the Seppun--the Seppun--act outside Her Majesty's will?"

She shakes her head.

"From what we have seen as Her Majesty's body was prepared for its return to Otosan Uchi--a preparation that I must dedicate resources to maintain--there were no marks on her body. There were no lesions unfamiliar to us; Her Majesty spent much time seated, and that leaves signs on the body. There was no discoloration inconsistent with a natural death. The wards were all intact. Other security measures were as they ought to have been--and, no, you may not know the details thereof."

Sadako draws a breath and holds it for a heartbeat before releasing it.

"I do happen to know who visited Her Majesty on those days," she says. "It is a short list, aside from her personal attendants and the usual rotation of Miharu and Hidden Guard. The latter, I will note, does not include Seppun Tomaru; his duty was adjusted after the announcement of his potential position, specifically to exclude him from implications of impropriety. But if I am going to provide it for you, to subject those on it to your particular attentions, I will need more than what you have said to me. I will need more testimony--and not the kind with which you provided our mutual cousins in the Crane, either."

She sits back.

"How do you like your tea, Lady Scorpion?"

Kaguya set down her cup. "Testimony as to what? I must solve the murder before you will hand me a list of suspects?"

Noriko cleared her throat. "Perhaps Lady Seppun means only that she must be certain that there is a case to be answered? Lady Bayushi is correct about the difficulty of the timing, but...bad things happen from time to time. They are not always because a person caused them. Is it possible for Lady Bayushi to satisfy herself as to the nature of the Empress' passing?"

Sadako passes by Noriko's comment.

"Lady Scorpion, when is the last time you slept?"