With the powers that Ryuichi would one day command, no one would be able to defeat him. Ryukage knew that too.

They all did.

It was why Ryuichi must live. Why no one could find or harm him before he learned to master his temper and his powers.

If Ryukage couldn’t turn this child to his cause—couldn’t control him—he would kill him. As would all those enemies who wanted to stop them both. All those who would fear that this child was corrupted by his parentage.

Yorukaze Ryuichi was cursed. Marked for death by all beings.

As above, so below . . .

But he had one stalwart defender.

As she ran the endless miles, Keiko chanted to Ryuichi, lulling him to sleep. “I will hide you where no one will find you.”

Not until he had come into his powers and was ready to take on all his enemies.

CHAPTER ONE

eleven years later

Swallowing the tears that were lodged in his throat, Ryuichi watched as the others prepared for the celebration he’d been banned from attending because he wasn’t good enough. Smart enough. Deserving enough.

Wasn’t wanted.

Didn’t come from the right family or have the right heritage.

I should be used to it.

He wasn’t. No matter how many times he heard those cruel words, they still stung.

Know your place. Do as you’re told. Don’t complain, and have no thoughts other than what we give you.

Be a mindless sponge.

That was all anyone ever said to him as they shoved him into corners or elbowed him aside. It was the only life he had ever known. At the rate it was going, he feared that one day he might very well become as invisible as they all treated him.

Today they were holding a celebration on the anniversary of his birth—and he’d been given stable duty. He wasn’t even allowed to attend.

Not that they were celebrating his birth. No one cared that he was on this earth, or that his mother—whoever she’d been—had gone to the trouble of having a son. All he knew about his parents was that his father had been a warrior who’d died in battle, and his mother a noblewoman.

But the sad truth was that his parents had been of so little note that no one had even bothered to remember their names.

Like him, they’d been unremarkable. Utterly forgettable.

“You’re lucky we even allowed you to attend this academy, given the fact you have no family to claim you.” That was all any of his teachers or Yoshi-sensei ever said to him. “Had your father not been a warrior with a retainer to speak for you, you’d be working in a field. Or worse, dead. Be grateful we even tolerate you here.”

His classmates barely acknowledged him, and when they did, it was only to insult him.