Northstar Vale Surgery is just stabbing something back to life.

As she followed the scent, then the sound of pacing, Hime came upon her sister. Her usually fluffy coat was tangled. There were murky stains in some places along her neck, a ragged quality to the Empress that Hime found utterly unbecoming. She took notice of the way her sister moved - not with the grace of her station, but in the manner of a weakened animal. Her first thought was, you have become prey, and she was immediately repulsed. The scorn she felt did not register on her face, though. Reiko turned to regard her with a thin smile, one that darkened her features in an eerie manner Hime was unaccustomed to seeing. It was like looking at the mirrored surface of the lake.

A brief frown contorted Hime's own features as she closed the distance. She need not make a show of looking over her sister's wounds as they were quite evident, as was the anger emanating from the typically placid ruler. What, pray tell, had happened? It did not elude Hime that the emperor could be malicious, but she was surprised he would be so outright with his corrections. The entire empire could see the wounds upon her sister - and there weren't many others with the gumption to attempt an assault upon their empress.

Did he not think of how that would look? How the peasants might bear witness to these wounds? If he did, then he truly had more pride in himself than Hime realized. Takeshi was, therefore, a more dangerous animal than she had given him credit for.

The flicker of Hime's attention was brief as she took all these things, thought her thoughts, and then softly offered her sister one tiny phrase: What shall we do about this?