by Liz Delton
The stables were in a state of chaos when Kira got there, panting from the run up the steps. Two knights sped off on horses just as she arrived. Three squires were not far behind them, Hoshi, Hikaru’s brother, among them. The cacophony of their gear clanking and hooves beating the ground quickly disappeared into the autumn woods.
When the dust settled, Kira spotted Hikaru standing by the large door, which wasn’t even wheeled all the way open, as if it had been opened in a rush. A handful of pages and novices loitered throughout the stables. They quickly started forming small groups, trading whispers and glances out the door.
“What’s going on?” Kira demanded.
Hikaru looked just as stunned as Kira felt.
“There was an ambush, over by Arrowwood. It was a trap. The Storm King’s men took out a bridge.”
“Arrowwood? But that’s where Jun went with Sir Nikko!”
“I know. Hoshi said Sir Nikko managed to send a messenger to Nari. But it wasn’t much. They have no idea what they’re going into.” He gestured to the empty woods where the knights and squires had departed.
Gekkō-ji’s bell rang out over the mountain, but Kira didn’t hear it. She had had a bad feeling about Jun’s absence. Lately, all those bad feelings and strange occurrences had had something to do with her. At least this time she didn’t think she was responsible or connected. But if something had happened to Jun…
“You should get to class,” Hikaru said gently.
Kira nodded numbly. She stumbled back to the temple, her feet automatically leading her into the Moonstone and to a seat in her history and strategy lesson. Instead of taking notes as she usually did, she merely moved her quill across the page, making random lines and doodles. She couldn’t concentrate. She had been right about Jun being in trouble. Now all the terrible conclusions she had been jumping to in the library came back full force but with more detail. A bridge had been destroyed. Had Sir Nikko and Jun been on that bridge? Or had Sir Nikko tried to confront the Storm King’s men and been unable to defend himself and his page?
All day, she had to answer the masters when they asked why Jun wasn’t in class. Master Tenchi, to everyone’s surprise, did not ask, merely looked at Kira and told her to practice with a page she barely knew, Aruma, who was fast with her staff. Kira’s inattention was punished by several bruises, though it wasn’t really Aruma’s fault.
It wasn’t until her afternoon healing arts lesson that Kira snapped out of her stupor. There was a commotion outside of the apothecary, and Kira looked up from the roots she had been grinding. One of the knights she had seen fleeing the stable this morning was carrying one half of a stretcher. Sir Nikko held the other half.
Mistress Tori rushed out of the apothecary at the sight of the knights. Everyone inside stared.
“What happened?” Mistress Tori demanded.
“An ambush, Mistress,” Sir Nikko replied gruffly.
“Take them around back.”
The men carrying the stretchers—for there were three—followed Tori to the back of the apothecary, where she housed patients in need of recovery.
Kira found herself already at the door of the apothecary, her feet leading her outside and around the building.
“Jun,” she muttered as she stumbled alongside the building.
The knights and Mistress Tori crammed into the recovery cabin, and Kira followed, drawn to the smallest person on a stretcher. No one told her to leave.
Jun’s eyes were closed, his hair plastered to his head. His clothes were soaked with sweat and blood. Kira was relieved to see his chest rising and falling when Mistress Tori ripped open his jacket. She was less relieved to see the long wooden splinter protruding from Jun’s upper arm, a splinter the size of a dagger. The blood was everywhere. Bright red all over his chest and left arm. A bloody bandage did almost nothing to stem the flow.
“Put him on the bed.”
The knights obeyed, placing the stretcher directly on top of one of the pristine beds.
Mistress Tori gently poked Jun all over, lifting his arms and rolling him to the side to inspect him.
“Just his arm,” she muttered finally. In the next second, Tori glided to the next bed, the next patient, quickly assessing the seriousness of the man’s wounds.
Kira stayed with Jun. She sank down beside the bed and put her hands on his uninjured arm.
His first quest. And this happens.
His breathing was shallow. She watched his bare chest rise and fall, glistening with blood from the puncture. If the splinter had been a few inches to the side, it would have pierced his heart.
Sometime later, Mistress Tori returned to Jun’s side. The white apron she had thrown on as they entered the recovery cabin was splattered in blood. Kira was too afraid to look at the other patients.
Jun’s brow was covered in sweat.
Kira couldn’t look away as Tori placed a hand on Jun’s torn and bloodied skin, wrapping her other hand around the protruding splinter.
Then Tori closed her eyes, and Kira could see she was muttering something under her breath. Before pulling on the splinter, Tori finished her mantra—or recitation, or prayer, Kira didn’t really know—then pressed one hand down on the wound and pulled.
“AAaargh!” Jun roared, and his eyes flashed open.
Automatically, he tried to rise, but Kira put two firm hands on his chest, pushing him back down. Tori discarded the splinter, and it fell to the floor with a clatter. Jun’s eyes closed again.
Tori continued to mutter under her breath, something that sounded like a poem, though Kira couldn’t catch any of the words. Both the healer’s hands pressed over the wound, blood seeping around her fingers.
Mesmerized, Kira watched her work, knowing the Shadow magic Tori possessed could reach inside a person and heal a wound, kill an infection, and knit back together that which was broken.
Shadow magic could also cause this damage.
While the blood seeping from Jun’s wound slowed to a stop, Kira finally noticed the rapid conversation going on around her. It was as if someone turned the volume up on the room.
“They were waiting for us at Sayura Bridge—”
“That’s an Imperial road. Are they crazy?”
“Smarter than attacking us on clan land, Kosumoso’s or Starwind—”
“Never mind Kosumoso’s land. What’ll Sir Jovan do when he hears about his boy—?”
Mistress Tori looked up from her work. Jun’s wound was completely gone, the skin scarred and looking as it if had healed in weeks, not seconds. Tori shook her head as if clearing it and looked around the cabin.
“Thank you all for your assistance,” she said with authority. “I must ask you to clear the cabin, so they might get some rest.”
The knights departed immediately, with several words of thanks to Tori and last glances at their friends on the beds.
Kira stood to leave, but Mistress Tori took her by the arm and steered her toward a tall cabinet at the back of the cabin.
“I could use your help. There’s towels on the top shelf—if you could wipe up the blood.”
“Of course,” Kira replied automatically, numbly.
Tori handed her a basin of water, and Kira got to work cleaning up Jun.
“I’ll be back in a flash—should go check on the class.”
As Kira finished wiping up the blood that had run down his hand and all over his fingers, Mistress Tori returned and came to the head of Jun’s bed. She placed one hand on his heart and the other on his stomach and began muttering again.
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Tori said when she had finished, noticing Kira’s questioning gaze. “I can encourage swift regeneration.”
“Wow,” Kira muttered.
Tori smiled. “He has to stay here for a little while, though. Regenerating blood doesn’t happen all at once.”
“Do you think he’ll wake up soon?”
Tori went over to another patient and laid her hands on him in the same way. Kira j
oined her and began cleaning the side of the man’s head, which was caked in blood. He was breathing steadily, though.
“Perhaps later today. The trauma to the body can be exhausting, even though the wound is healing.”
“You got that right,” the man they were tending grunted. His eyes fluttered open. Even under the haze of exhaustion and an apparent head wound, the knight’s eyes flickered all over the room, surveying his surroundings. Apparently finding them to his liking, he closed his eyes again.
“You’ve had a wound to the head, Sir Mori,” Tori said gently. “You’ll want to remain here for a few days.”
“A few days?” Sir Mori replied scornfully, eyes still closed. “By then, those mages will be halfway to Heliodor.”
“Yes, but your head will be halfway to mush if you don’t let it recover properly.”
Sir Mori snorted.
“What happened?” The words flew out of Kira’s mouth before she could wonder if it was proper etiquette for her to address the prone knight.
He opened one eye and peered at her. “Who’re you?”
“Kira Savage. I’m Jun’s mentor.”
Sir Mori’s eyes slid past Kira to land on Jun. “He all right?”
“He’ll be fine,” Mistress Tori assured him. “Wound to the arm. Already healed up.”
“Good,” he said and closed his eyes again.
Kira thought he had gone back to sleep, but then he said, “Sir Nikko and Jun were headed to Arrowwood on a quest. Easy stuff. Land dispute or something. Dorin and I, there—” he gestured in the direction of the third bed, “—were on our way to Arrowwood as well. Thieving, we were told. We all met up on the road. Just as we were laughing at the coincidence of us all heading out to Arrowwood at once, a storm rolled over us.
“Not a normal storm. Got all dark as we headed toward Sayura Bridge. Dorin looks behind us and sees three mages riding toward us, fast as the wind.
“We get on the bridge—there was nowhere else to go—and the storm explodes into terrible howls. Lightning everywhere. Wind, and thunder, and rain. There’s a bright flash and an explosion. Suddenly, we’re all in the water, horses, packs, pieces of the bridge.
“The storm lets up once the mages have gotten what they want. We went to the other side of the river, but any good Shadow mage can get themselves across a bridge-less river, no problem. Sir Nikko was the first out of the river, dragging Jun with that hunk of the bridge stuck in him. Blood’s pouring down him so fast I thought it went straight through his heart.
“But the Shadow mages didn’t just want to maim us. They were there for a reason. Sir Nikko had enough presence of mind to send a messenger to Nari as soon as he got out of the water. Once the fighting started, there was no time.
“Jun and Dorin managed to stay out of it. At least the Shadow mages had that much honor, not to attack young pages. Dorin was limping, but he dragged Jun over to the trees, away from the fight.
“Sir Nikko and I were doing pretty well. One of the Shadow mages was down and out of the fight, but then something came at me…and I woke up here,” he concluded simply.
“The quests,” Kira mumbled. “Do you think—?”
Before Kira’s words could catch up to her racing thoughts, Sir Mori answered. “It was a coincidence? No. No, I think the Storm King’s men have found another way to trick us.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
A Predicament, To Be Sure
By the time Jun finally woke, the sun had gone down, revealing a faint glow of Light in the recovery cabin. Kira realized with a strange pleasure that the Light softly glowing around Jun changed somehow when he woke. She hadn’t known Light magic could do that.
Kira had missed her Light lesson and dinner. She didn’t care. Mistress Tori didn’t tell her to leave, and no one came looking for her.
Jun didn’t say much before he drifted back to sleep, but Kira felt better. After watching him arrive unconscious, dripping in blood, Kira’s brain was still coming to terms with how fast Shadow magic could heal. When Mistress Tori finally suggested she go find something to eat, Kira obeyed.
She stepped out of the recovery cabin into the cool green garden, twinkling with Light magic. She blinked several times, not knowing how long she had spent crouched by Jun’s bed since bolting out of class. She retrieved her books from the empty apothecary and noticed someone had cleaned up her work space. She had no idea who. She hadn’t gotten to know many of the pages in her new classes yet. There was Rabenda and Kuma, but she kept as much distance from them as possible.
She trudged down the little path that led into the garden, passing by the statue of Gekkō. She studied it as she passed, noting the flying squirrel perched on the old man’s shoulder, but she didn’t linger. She didn’t want the real Thistle or Gekkō appearing to her right now. She had no idea how she could possibly fulfill what Thistle asked of her, now that she realized it meant confronting the Storm King too.
The Storm King, who sent mages to ambush unsuspecting knights and pages, who were merely trying to help the villages.
There was one thing she could do, though. Two people she could confront, whether they wanted to listen to her or not.
Feeling lightheaded, she stopped at the kitchen house for quick refreshment on her way to the Moonstone. Miss Mayu gave her a sad little smile as she handed over some steamed buns wrapped in a cloth napkin before launching back into her preparations for the next day.
The novices were at their Light lesson with Ichiro on the roof of the Moonstone. When Kira arrived, panting slightly from the swift climb up the stairs, she saw with great disappointment that Ichiro’s usual table was empty. Instead, a knight stood at the railing, apparently in charge of the class in his place. She wore two daggers at her belt, and her long, braided hair fell well past her waist. She leaned on the railing, explaining something to an older novice, Takeda. Kira darted between cushions and tables to where Nesma and Hikaru sat.
“Is Jun all right?” Nesma asked as soon as Kira came over. The Light rope she had just summoned sparkled in her hands. Michi and Hana, at the next table, paused in their conversation, concern on both their faces.
Kira nodded. “He will be. Where is Master Starwind? Who is that?”
Nesma glanced at the knight at the head of the class, still engaged with Takeda. Takeda was nodding in agreement, but Kira could tell by his eyes that he looked confused.
“Lady Anzu,” Nesma said. Kira suddenly recognized her first savior in Camellia when she turned, making Takeda sit next to her at the table now, and listen as she explained something patiently.
“She was returning from a quest, so they asked her to stay and cover for Master Starwind. She wouldn’t tell us where he is, though.”
Kira repressed a huff. “Okay,” was all she said before she sprang to her feet again. Escaping Anzu’s notice, she darted back down the stairs. She hadn’t seen Anzu since the knight had treated her so coldly after asking why Zowan had taken Kira on as a page. Her heart twinged as she skipped down the stairs, but she didn’t need another argument right now.
Ichiro’s office was empty. After her knock produced no answer, Kira dared to slide the door open, but no one was there. She peered into the garden across from the foyer where Mistress Nari liked to conduct business, but it was empty except for the tinkling of a little stream pouring into the small pool. She strode around the Moonstone for the better part of an hour, peeking into rooms and listening at door handles. Where could they be? Were they meeting with Sir Jovan again?
The only logical place to hold any kind of meeting was in the Moonstone, and she had searched it from roof to ground level. She groaned now as she strode back into the courtyard.
It was dark now, save for the thick blanket of stars above and the glow of Light magic all around her. Barely dark at all, she reflected.
Finally, she decided to go back to the apothecary to check on Jun. It was the only thing she could do.
The garden glowed with dim starlight. The koi in th
e small pond sat dormant, but Kira could see them deep in the pool, waiting for the morning and whatever the next day would bring. The stones on the winding path glowed brilliantly, showing Kira the way.
Just as she neared the statue of Gekkō, she heard raised voices coming from the apothecary path. Without thinking, she ducked into the alcove that held Gekkō’s statue. After a nervous glance up at the statue, she peered into the bushes toward the voices, but she could see nothing except dimly glowing leaves.
“This has gone too far,” an angry voice seethed.
“I know, Jovan, but what else can we do?” Ichiro replied. Kira still couldn’t see them but heard them come to an abrupt halt on the path, the stones crunching under their feet.
“What else? What else will Raiden do to us? The dark-creatures—”
“We can’t prove that was him; we can’t even prove it was Shadow magic,” Ichiro reasoned.
“Who else would it be? I’m sorry, Ichiro, but someone needs to put a stop to this once and for all.”
“Jovan, don’t you think you’re…” Ichiro paused, as if searching for a more delicate word.
“Overreacting? Of course I’m overreacting! My son’s first quest turned out to be a trick by the Storm King! A fourteen-year-old page was nearly killed on his way to settle a land dispute! What other atrocities will Raiden stoop to? How can we keep Camellia safe if every plea for help is suspect? And those beasts…”
Kira heard a deep sigh, but she couldn’t tell if it was Ichiro or Jovan.
“I’m summoning the Camellia Six and heading to Heliodor. As their leader, I have the right to do so,” Jovan said, his tone daring Ichiro to argue.
“I can’t support you on this matter. Confronting the Storm King in his own territory has always been a mistake. Rokuro never would have done it.”
Jovan paused, and Kira remembered that Ichiro’s son used to be the leader of the Grey Knights.
“The mistake,” Jovan finally said, “has been letting the Empress and Grand Steward try to make peace with the Storm King. They’ve accomplished nothing all these years, except impose useless sanctions and spew pretty words of peace wrapped in impotent threats.”