Matsu Shiko (I)

Matsu Shiko was a samurai-ko of the Lion Clan who was betrothed to an Ikoma. She had fallen in love with Doji Toru, who was also betrothed. The couple went to see Kasuga Yaniko, a resorceful old woman, and requested the Tortoise to use her abilities to over-rule the nakodo their fathers commissioned. Yaniko eagerly accepted a Lion map with the location of Shima no Quehao, the Lion's island library, an information her clan had sought for years. When marriage was between two clans, it required a higher authority to grant it, so Yaniko forged an Imperial endorsement.