Traveling in the guise of an ordinary samurai, Yamabuki, not-yet seventeen and the only surviving daughter of a legendary warlord, continues her mission to bring important secret dispatches to the capital. Having survived her first sword battle and killed a would-be assassin and a sword master, Yamabuki gets waylaid in a lawless town, her path blocked by unseasonable snows, and her life at risk from the corrupt sakimori.

Meanwhile, Saburo, a master assassin hired by rival factions in her home province, is hot on her trail. Motivated by not just money but personal vengeance, the ninja intends to make sure she never reaches her destination alive.

But all is not darkness. Yamabuki also encounters the young warlord Yoshinaka, handsome and charismatic, who vows to reclaim his birthright from his treacherous uncle. Drawn to him as a kindred soul, Yamabuki starts to open her heart. But does she want to get entangled in his ambitious plans to conquer and rule over the entire empire?

12th-century Japan, in all its beauty and brutality, comes alive in this second book of Sword of the Taka Samurai.

For several years, Katherine M. Lawrence has been researching and writing the adventures of Yamabuki, an actual historic female samurai who lived in the Heian Era of Japan. Inspired by several decades in the martial arts halls led by women -- Ja Shin Do, the San Jose State University Kendo Club, and Pai Lum White Lotus Fist-Crane style -- Katherine set out to write about the experiences of women who train in warriors skills...and Yamabuki in particular.

Katherine graduated from the University of Washington with a BA degree in both History and Chemistry, and continued with work on a Masters in History at the Far Eastern and Slavic Institute. She also received an MBA from Harvard University.