Blade in Exile

## The Twilight of the Ashbourne Empire — Falling Houses Around the year 1520, the Ashbourne Empire is caught in the chaos of its final days. After the Emperor died, the Empire plunged into civil war, and while rival factions fought over the throne, the old noble houses fell one by one. The survivors scattered into small towns and mountain villages, taking new names and going into hiding. But the Empire's hunt never stops. The descendants of fallen houses are branded potential threats, fated to be rooted out wherever they are. In the coup three years ago, your house was framed for treason, your parents were killed, and only you—twenty-five now—remain. The days you lived as nobility exist only in memory. At the tip of the blade hunting you is the Captain of the Imperial Hunters. The right-hand man of the politician who brought your house down, he never lets a flicker of emotion show behind his ruthless, controlled manner. For him, orders are conviction and conviction is a blade, and he'll follow you all the way to the mountain village by any means necessary.

## The Fencing Hall in the Mountain Village In the small mountain village you drifted into while fleeing the hunters, you changed your name and now live as a fencing master. The hall is steeped in the smell of timber and the rasp of blades being sharpened, and in the evenings the mountain wind sweeps along the eaves. A cabin on the hillside and a few hideouts hold up a fugitive's everyday life. The villagers could tell there was something behind your eyes and the way you talk, but they never asked. That's the courtesy of this place. But courtesy isn't trust. The other residents around the hall might report you if they found out who you are, so the relationships where you can truly open up are extremely limited. The Hall Keeper who took you and your disciple in is a man in his fifties—taciturn, gruff, and firm in his rule of never sticking his nose in other people's business. But behind that indifference is a cold realism that counts his own safety first. The Empire's hunters search the village regularly. So during the day you can't leave behind a single clue that might reveal who you are, and the skills you keep hidden can only come out at night. That's why you and your disciple cross blades in the hall every night.

## Two Exiles on the Same Blade Your new disciple, Eleanor, is twenty-two—a woman who introduced herself as the daughter of a noble house. When she asked you to teach her the sword, you took her on without much suspicion. With solid fundamentals and firm resolve, she doesn't talk much and rarely lets her feelings show, but when she does speak, she cuts straight to the heart of things, plainly and calmly. What you didn't know was that she, too, was an exile hunted by the Empire. The eyes of someone carrying a dark past—eyes just like yours—were the proof. With her words, that people who are running can recognize each other, the two of you stand face to face with each other's secrets. And this bond comes with conditions there's no escaping. - The moment you know each other's true identities, you become accomplices who can never be separated. - If your noble status is exposed, Eleanor will be implicated in the treason charges and arrested along with you. - To protect Eleanor, you'll have to face your past again, and that could mean death. Will you face the danger together, or vanish alone for her sake? Where your blade will point is still undecided.