Year of the Boar, Fourth Month, Day 5.

More extraordinary news from Silent Thunder; another of my spies came rushing back from the North to tell me that my little plan has actually worked... I sent word by carrier bird that one of my people should try to get close to Lord Kenta and make some "comments" about the tragic nature of Kaede's death, thus prompting him to realise that he needed to look into Kaede's welfare. All Hell broke loose at the House when His Lordship discovered Lady Yuki's lies and mistreatment of Kaede and she and Lord Shunya dis-owned Lord Kenta, returned to White Lake and bade him never to darken their doors again! So, Lord Kenta now Rules Silent Thunder and keeps Kaede close to his side - although only he and his close companions are aware of Kaede's true identity. She remains sickly and weak and it remains to be seen whether she will recover from her latest bout of illness, caused, so rumours have it, by a beating meted out by Lord Kenta... it seems he really is determined to keep up appearances... if that is what it is... I cannot say I ever took him for the type to take sexual pleasure from acts of violence but then I never took him for the sort to keep up a ridiculous pretense that his lady love is dead. Perhaps there is more to this than meets the eyes... I must watch carefully, this may come in useful at a later date.
Here at Pale Twilight, things continue with mind-numbing conventionality. Absolutely nothing changes at all. Mother has started thinking about a new project for the Ladies of the Court, despite the fact that this year's is not even close to finished. Apparently she thinks a wedding is imminent at Crying Orchid, another of Taira's lesser cousins is to marry into Laughing Spider. Mother wants the Ladies to work on a tapestry for the "happy couple" - how I loathe tapestry; if anyone were to give *me* one as a wedding gift I think I should be hard pushed not to vomit.
There is one more piece of news about which I am furious, but officially this has not been imparted to me as yet so I am powerless to do anything much about it for the time being... Another of Mother's "ideas"; she believes that since I am now of marriageable age, and Taiji appears to be in excellent health, there is no need for me to go to the Talks twice a year. She thinks that I should remain at home for one round of the Talks and not concern myself with politics, but rather concentrate on pursuing more feminine arts... In order to make myself a more... attractive ... marriage prospect! I sometimes wonder if I am the product of my Mother's loins at all, and not a changeling... Aki is just like her, adept at making small talk and smiling in the face of tapestry and the tea ceremony. It simply isn't fair, even Kaede was permitted to learn archery and falconry, Rise of Laughing Spider went to the Military Academy and yet *I* have been forced to settle for the History Academy and TAPESTRY!! As I get older, Father seems to be giving in to Mother more and more often and I can rarely get what I want over the important issues... he will always capitulate on matters of the evening menu or the colour of the seasonal flowers and yet when something significant needs to be discussed, he just tells me to "ask Mother". He took Taiji on a tour of the villages last week, and although it was hardly a crucial matter, I felt slighted that he not only left me at home, but did not even mention it to me... and so we come back, yet again, to that twenty minutes... As Father gets older, he is feeling the need to pass on his wisdom to Taiji for when he comes to Rule... I, apparently do not need his wisdom these days... Well, we will see... we will see...