Excerpt from Origin Curse (Book 1, Dynasty Codes Trilogy)

The Dynasty Codes

Magic is disappearing.

Gone are the days when mages wandered the globe and spirits crossed over from the world beyond. No longer do people deal out curses, receive wishes, or buy items imbued with magic, and the legendary creatures that inspired popular folk tales have been so rarely sighted for generations that they’ve slipped into myth.

Instead, the final dregs of magic linger on the cusp between worlds, noticed only by the few with connections to both the spirit world and the land of the living. There, the veil between worlds tore, and the laws of this dying magic transformed when a curse placed on a noble family in the east unravelled the fragile and unspoken dynasty codes over the globe, forcing the world into a new age.

Where magic will belong in that new age depends on the actions of just a few.

---

Prologue

Centuries ago—before westerners set foot in the far eastern countries, battling open seas in great wooden vessels for adventure and trade to make their fortune in uncharted lands— the far east of the map marked the edge of the world. At this edge, a small country named Hizen is left yet untouched by the expanding west.

Hizen, ruled over by the military power of warlords, was led by the shōgun and split into domains guarded like kingdoms by powerful families and their ruling household member, the daimyō. For centuries, these families fought to expand their territory, creating a feudal era of civil war that kept the country locked in a state of tension, creating a country with a dominant ruling class of warriors—the samurai—noble and strict to their code of honour, loyal to their daimyō and avowed to protect their domain. But should threat ever come from beyond the lands of Hizen, by the power of the shōgun, these warring states would unite under a single banner to protect their country, putting aside their grievances with the neighbouring domains to keep the land safe.

On the southern coast of Hizen, an ancient warring family rules a large domain called Hié, headed by a powerful matriarchal line that has gone back for generations. This family, being close to the shōgun and as trusted members of the Hizen court, was given great trust and position in the Hizen nobility, awarded a rich region with good natural defence. With the Taiheiyō Ocean to the south and east and a mountain region with rich forest to the north, the Hié region thrived, rich in crops and trade, with people living in peace in towns, villages, and on farms, crafting items of great quality and skill for livelihood and trade. And from her castle home in the centre of Hié’s main town, Hié’s reigning warlord, Lady Ii Asumi, defends her land and her people to keep this thriving life, working closely with the shōgun in the neighbouring region of Shogo to the north to bring an age of peace across all of Hizen

But her family line hid a secret—a curse that would bring her family’s hard-earned position and peace toppling down on itself, and with it, the destruction of the prosperous region of Hié.

---

1

The Castle of the Dragon Daimyō

Night shrouded the tenshu keep of the Hié castle compound, and Ii Yoshiko flinched as wooden floorboards creaked under muffled footsteps in the corridors outside her sleeping quarters. Her heart thudded, and her fingers stopped tying her indigo-dyed haori as Yoshiko paused to listen to the quick steps shuffling towards her room. Her eyes flicked to the window. The light of dawn wasn’t yet bleeding into the sky—daylight was still a way off. She frowned.

This sound didn’t match the footsteps of her maid, Haruki, who padded confidently down the tenshu’s wooden passageways, and no-one else should be coming towards her chambers at this time. The hour before dawn was for training. Yoshiko’s mother, daimyō Ii Asumi, the ruling warlord of Hié, had insisted her daughter learn to fight and defend herself from a young age, and now Yoshiko was nearing adulthood, Asumi expected Yoshiko to rise for dawn training on her own, without prompting from castle staff. So Haruki wouldn’t be coming here yet, nor anyone else.

Yoshiko crouched, reaching instinctively in the dark for the short tanto blade she kept by her futon, and watched where the moonlight faintly hit the sliding paper door to her room. She tucked her long, straight black hair behind her ear and over her shoulder, out of the way, narrowing her dark eyes and listening.

Footsteps paused outside her door. Yoshiko slipped across the tatami floor and waited beside the door, blade ready, out of view of whoever entered.

The door slid in its frame, and a young woman peered into Yoshiko’s room, the moonlight hitting the woman’s features and making her look like a yōkai spirit from folk tales. Yoshiko, her breath held, watched the intruder from the corner of her eye.

The woman bent at the waist to bow and stepped into Yoshiko’s bedchambers. Concerned, Yoshiko launched across the space between them, grabbed the woman’s shoulder, spun her to face her, and bared her tanto blade as a warning.

‘Who are you?’ Yoshiko growled, feeling uneasy at the intrusion of her private rooms but trying to look firm. She didn’t like violence, but she knew the defence of the Hié castle and its ruling family was crucial for the safety of the domain and the people her family protected.

The young woman let out a squeak as the tip of Yoshiko’s blade stopped a finger’s length from her small, pale nose. She clutched the sleeve of her light indigo kimono—the colour worn by everyone employed in the Hié castle compound. A maid. Yoshiko raised her eyebrows but awaited the young woman’s answer, returning her gaze to the woman’s wide eyes.

‘S-Suki. I’m Suki. I was employed to work as your handmaid from today.’ The maid bowed her head as much as she dared with a blade in front of her face and scrunched her eyes shut.

Yoshiko paused, thinking, choosing her words carefully. ‘I’ve not heard of this. Who sent you?’

The young woman looked at the blade helplessly, then back to the warlord’s daughter. ‘Councilman Chinen, my lady,’ she stammered. ‘He said to come for you before training.’

Seeing the fear and honesty in Suki’s eyes, Yoshiko let out a sigh and lowered her tanto, still not ready to sheath it. Her long hair had fallen in the way again, so she tucked it behind her ear and straightened her back, watching the maid through tired, black eyes. Chinen was her training tutor, but this seemed wrong. ‘Chinen never sends maids—especially for training. I’m expected to rise by myself.’

Yoshiko watched the maid’s helpless expression deepen, searching for an answer she didn’t have.

She seems innocent enough, Yoshiko wondered. Perhaps Chinen did send her. But she remained alert for further movement in the corridor, unable to know for sure.

Yoshiko’s mother, Ii Asumi, was a renowned warrior and Hié’s proud daimyō. She was a woman of adventure and success, her strong ways and skill in battle earning her admiration across the whole country of Hizen—even among the shōgun and daimyō of other regions. This wild and proud woman had married a calm man of study and the arts, adoring her consort more than anything else in their world. She’d not even been disappointed when their only child, Yoshiko, had taken more after her father, Hitoshi, in likes and nature, both preferring politics and the arts to fighting—though Yoshiko did enjoy archery, in which she could combine zen and peace with form and aim.

The daimyō doted upon her peaceful family and embraced the calm of the times she could spend with them at leisure when not caught up in her busy governing life, enjoying time in the gardens or kneeling to enjoy green tea and sweets while listening to her husband and daughter chat excitedly about their learnings, art, and philosophies. Asumi still insisted Yoshiko train, and while Yoshiko had no liking for battle, she found the alertness it had given her, mixed with her unusually good hearing, useful, particularly at times like now when she had to be alert to potential intruders to keep her domain safe.

‘Suki, does my mother know you’ve been employed recently? She’s warier than me. I don’t want you hurt because someone’s made a mistake and we’ve not expected you.’ Yoshiko sheathed her tanto and looked with concern at the young woman.

The maid’s face paled further, and she stared without an answer.

‘Welcome to the keep of the dragon daimyō.’ Yoshiko gave a small smile, relieved Chinen hadn’t sent the girl to her mother.

Wondering what he was thinking, Yoshiko resolved to head to the training grounds immediately to find out more. Yoshiko rested her blade on a simple wooden table in a corner of her room, breathing slowly to relax her instincts and reassure herself.

There’s no danger; it’s just a mistake.

Here, in the castle of the dragon daimyō Ii Asumi, the line of cursed warlords reigned strictly, ensuring their care for their region and fierce reputation kept Hié running smoothly and well-protected against potential attack from neighbouring regions. Yoshiko’s mother had great responsibility from the shōgun to watch over this region of Hizen and look after its people, and the Ii family had ruled this region for generations, almost as long as the curse ran through their bloodline. Yoshiko didn’t know too much about the curse yet—her mother said she’d tell the full story when Yoshiko came of age. All Yoshiko knew now was that something had happened in the age of magic, several generations ago, and her ancestor had been cursed with a consuming power—one that gave them advantages of strength, but at a great cost.

The curse started small, at a young age, with things like enhanced senses, increased speed, stamina, strength. This all sounded like a dream come true for Asumi, Yoshiko’s mother, who was a famed warlord and made great use of these traits, but it all came with a price. One of those was hearing too much and losing sleep over any little sound. Asumi, even after decades of living like this, still suffered little sleep. Yoshiko was also starting to realise what her growing powers meant, and the pain of them, too.

CONTINUE READING