The Courtesans

Kitsune Hosokawa is a woman who lives in what is arguably, a man's world. Born in the year 1553 in feudal Japan, during the tumultuous period known as the Sengoku Jidai (the Age of Wars), she—like every other woman in her world, must bow and scrape before her male masters. But Kitsune is not like every other woman. Taught from an early age the secrets of the Shinobi and the skills of ninjutsu, she is raised with an independent streak. But when financial calamity strikes her family, her destitute parents are forced to sell her into indentured servitude. Her extraordinary beauty brings her to the attention of the most renowned teahouse in the ancient capital, Kyoto, famed for their legendary courtesans. With her innate wit and a growing realization of her self-worth, Kitsune soon rises to the highest rank of Tayu, a woman who can write her own destiny. When a chance encounter with a samurai lord from a distant province occurs, she is reborn into her ultimate role, the greatest spy and assassin for the powerful Kurita clan. Lord Nishizawa, Chief Minister of the Satake clan, is a cruel and ruthless schemer who has murdered his way up through the ranks to become the de facto power behind the throne. Bent on conquering the neighboring lands of the Kurita, he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. As a clear and existential threat to her clan, Kitsune is sent on the most perilous mission of her life. Will her unusual suite of skills be enough to save her lord’s domains? Nearly half a millennium later, Akemi Miyazaki is a breathtakingly beautiful escort living amongst Tokyo's high society elite. While her stunning looks have given her an upper hand in the world, it is her superior intellect that have allowed her to rise to the very pinnacle of her profession, enjoying the considerable advantages of her status. That all comes crashing down when a criminal gang of yakuza violently takes over her organization, plunging her life into chaos and danger. Facing an increasingly deadly and uncertain future, she must call upon the wisdom of her ancient ancestor, the legendary courtesan, Kitsune Hosokawa, to save her.