Ryoichi had no choice but to face the new Lord of House Tosen. On one hand, he was glad that older Lord had recently fallen gravely ill, which meant that Ryoichi could know that the man calling for his brother's head was now going to be on his way out of his life. On the other, this new Lord Tosen was an unknown variable. Still, as Ryoichi walked to the palace he made note of the lack of vegetation and water. He had leverage here, to motivate this new lord to join forces and stop this petty war long enough that they could kick out the demons from their respective lands. Worst case, he could try and force people to realise that they were on a side without much food or water.

Another worry was Karesh. The Rabbit, as he called himself, was gone from sight. Ryoichi had no idea where the thief had gone, nor what on earth the man was thinking. They would get in trouble if he was caught, but at the same time, Ryoichi had hired the man for this specific purpose. Carnesale had been upset at his taking Karesh into his retainership, but it would be better than trying to explain what he'd been doing raiding the Aseryo vault.

Such a thing had become rare in recent days, as the famine drove people to the rich, who always seemed to have just enough enough food. Ryoichi knew that his own store couldn't hold out forever, but if he could end this feud.... Ryoichi didn't like it, but it had to be done. No more deaths or pointless skirmishes in the streets. It wasn't too bad, but with the drought things were getting worse by the day. He had to remind himself that he couldn't afford to be bitter about his brother's death now. Doing so would just make things considerably worse.

The march inside revealed wilting flowers and dead-eyed paintings. It had a faintly uneasy feel to it, but Ryoichi ignored it, instead looking along the rafters for his retainer. He didn't find him as he was led into a large room where a long table stood. The room for the negotiations no doubt. From how the chairs were set, the Lords were to be facing each other. Ryoichi had to remind himself that he wouldn't be looking into the face of the Lord who had ordered his brother dead. With a pause, Ryoichi adjusted his cape and weapon, then entered the room.

The red armor glinted as the other Lord stood to greet them. A few words poised to ensure their cooperation. Ryoichi had done this dance many times before. He moved to his respective chair and placed the sword down in front of him as a sign of trust. He didn't look to the rafters to find his missing retainer, nor did he break eye contact with Lord Tosen.

[color=ed145b]"You will have to forgive me for not eating first, as I have seen enough banquets to know to always let the host eat first,"[/color] Ryoichi said, bowing slightly to show respect. He knew that eating first meant not knowing if there was poison in the food or not before eating it and thus, it equalled playing a dangerous game. It was better to exercise caution in a tense situation like this. [color=ed145b]"Also, one of my retainers makes it a point to break into places that he is not supposed to break into, so if you could please return him here if you find him, I would be eternally grateful. Karesh Salib is a skilled thief, but I had hoped that he would exercise at least some self control today. As you can tell, it is not so."[/color]