The Harsh Cry of the Heron

After years of battle and sacrifice, Lord Otori Takeo and his wife, Shirakawa Kaede, have at last brought unity, peace, and prosperity to the Three Countries. The world is in balance, and heaven seems to shine on the Otori Clan. Their eldest daughter has grown into a formidable warrior with a wisdom beyond her years, almost ready to inherit her father's role. Meanwhile, their two younger daughters, twins, are thriving under the tutelage of The Tribe, a secret network of assassins with remarkable, seemingly supernatural skills who have been instrumental in Takeo's rise. But for Takeo, this success is haunted by a prophecy he has not shared with his wife or daughters: that he can die only at the hand of a member of his own family.
Yet as The Harsh Cry of the Heron opens, Takeo has little time to dwell on his secrets, his success, or his fate, for the Otori's precious peace is rupturing. A rogue family of The Tribe has sent assassins to attempt to kill Kaede, exposing vulnerabilities that will undoubtedly embolden Takeo's other enemies. Meanwhile, the distant emperor of the entire Eight Islands has fallen under the spell of a new general, and has taken a keen interest in the Otori and their bountiful land. And foreigners have arrived on the shores of this medieval Japanese world for the first time, bringing new trade, new religion, and new weapons. In this, the Last Tale of the Otori, everything that Takeo and Kaede have achieved is threatened.