Flower of the night

She was raised as the daughter of a shogun. She was never meant to choose her own life. For years, she has lived beneath her father’s authority, trained to obey the expectations of his house and accept the future chosen for her. Instead, she runs. Far from the castle, she finds refuge among a hidden group of shinobi. There, away from her father’s court, she begins learning their ways—and discovers a freedom she has never known. Then, one night, she witnesses something impossible. The Hyakki Yagyō. The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. Ghosts and yōkai move through the darkness in numbers that should not exist. At first, she believes they are simply creatures from old stories. But the deeper she looks, the more disturbing the pattern becomes. Wherever her father’s armies conquer, the dead follow. Now the shogun intends to bring his rule to the city that gave her sanctuary. Running is no longer enough. To protect the people who sheltered her, the runaway daughter must return to the world she escaped, unite with the shinobi who taught her to survive, and stand against the man she once called Father. But the ghosts gathering behind his empire remember a truth about her past that even she has forgotten. And when the Night Parade finally reaches the gates, she will discover that the shogun has been hiding far more than the bodies beneath his victories.