14th Day of the 3rd Month
I am in shock. Mother is dead, and Father is dying. The doctors say it was an accident, but I know the truth. They were poisoned.
The day started out beautifully. I awoke early, and dressed in a hunter-green padded hiking shirt with three-quarter length sleeves and gold piping on the shoulders, and a pair of black, pleated hakama. I pulled my hair into several small braids wrapping them together to form crown on the top of my head. Since I might be seen by the public, I wore a plain gold circlet on my head, with only an emerald, cut in the shape of a Sali…
