by Sarah Ash
“If Lady Inari sent you, then you can stay. But can you reassure the priest? The poor old man’s very confused.”
Sakami nodded. She and Honou passed beneath the scarlet torii and entered the shrine. The sound of chanting greeted them; the old priest was kneeling before the shrine, head bowed, intoning prayers.
“Excuse us, Father Taiki,” Sakami whispered, bowing. He looked up. “We’ve come to help protect the shrine.”
“You’re the girl who brought the tea.” The priest’s rheumy eyes widened in sudden recognition. “I’m glad to see you’re safe, my child. Has the floodwater receded?”
“Yes,” she said. “We’re all safe for now.” So I brought the priest tea? Another flicker of memory stirred to life.
“You left this with me last time.” He rose and walked slowly, rheumatically, to the altar. “Was it an offering?” He held out an ornate comb: tortoiseshell, inlaid in gold with the image of two cranes; a lover’s gift, symbol of lifelong fidelity. “Or did you want to leave it here for safekeeping?”
“I left this?” she said slowly, taking it and stroking the smooth tortoiseshell. As she held the comb tightly, her heart began to thrum as fast as a bee’s beating wings. She saw him: the one who had given her the comb. She heard his voice, shyly saying, “This is for you. It’s not much, I know, as recompense for bringing me safely back over the mountain. But when this siege is done, I promise I’ll make it up to you and reward you properly.”
“Lord Kaito,” she said his name out loud. And then, more intimately, “Kai.” And as she pronounced his name the memories began to return in earnest. “Kai gave me this comb.” A lover’s gift. He gave it to me because he loves me. “But why did I leave it here?” She pressed the comb to her heart. “And where is he? Why isn’t he still here, defending the castle?” She looked up at Honou, but his amber eyes were blank and unreadable. “Honou – are you hiding something from me?” Her anxiety grew with every fragment of regained memory; now the pieces began to link together. “Kai’s not dead, is he?”
“No.” Honou pulled a sour face. “He went off on a mission for Lady Inari.”
“A dangerous mission?”
His silence told her more than any words of explanation could have done.
“Will he come back?”
Honou gave a shrug, evidently annoyed by her persistent questioning. “How should I know? I’m kitsune, not a fortune teller.”
Sakami hesitated a moment longer and then pressed the comb into the priest’s hands. “Please could you keep it safe for me a little longer?”
He nodded and hobbled back to the altar – but as he knelt to hide it away with the other shrine treasures, she saw him lurch to one side, losing his balance. She hurried to his side, worried that he might fall and injure himself. As she put out her arm for him to lean on, he gave her a grateful glance.
“Thank you, my dear.”
“It must be hard looking after the shrine all by yourself,” Sakami said as she helped him back up to his feet. “Would you like me to help you?”
“It’s been a long while since I’ve had the support of a miko.”
“My mother was the miko of the shrine at Sakuranbo village,” Sakami said. “It’s in my blood.”
He peered into her face, squinting to study her more closely. “You must be Kiriko’s daughter, Sakami,” he said, smiling. “I see the likeness now.”
“You remember my mother Kiriko?” She was about to ask him what he knew about her beloved mother who had died so long ago when a man’s voice called out, “Sakami, are you in there?”
The female guardian kitsune let out a hiss of disapproval at the disturbance. Sakami turned around and saw a tall young man, hair untidily tousled, his right arm in a sling, gazing anxiously through the shrine torii.
His face was very familiar, but for a moment she struggled to put a name to it. Is he a friend? A lover?
“It’s Shun, your brother,” Honou whispered. “Wave back or he’ll be suspicious.”
“My brother,” she repeated, waving dutifully. Something nagged at the back of her mind.
“Go to him,” Honou whispered and Sakami did as she was told, hurrying beneath the torii.
“Mai told me that you were back,” he said. His face was drawn and sallow-pale, as if he had been very ill. And the sling. . .he must have been wounded defending the castle.
“Are you all right, Shun?” she asked uncertainly.
He suddenly reached out with his sound arm and hugged her to him. “I was so worried about you,” he said, his voice muffled as he pressed his face against the top of her head.
“Those are the words I should be saying to you,” she said. His touch, the smell of his body, his warmth, all felt familiar and safe. My brother. My own flesh and blood. I remember you now, dear Shun, always so full of yourself. . .and yet beneath all the bluster, you’re my one and only beloved big brother. “How is your shoulder?” she asked, gazing up at him.
“It’s mending well, thanks to you and Lord Kaito.”
“And me,” called Honou, aggrieved, “Don’t forget who risked his life to get the herbs to counteract the poison in your wound.”
“I just can’t believe what’s happening,” Shun said. “It has to be a mistake. Why must the clan be disbanded? I don’t understand –”
“That’s what happens in war.” Another young man appeared outside the shrine, tall and well-favored, with a bow slung over his shoulder. “And though we held out against the Kites, in the end, we lost.”
“Any news from the main house, Rikyu?” Shun asked and Sakami heard the agitation in his voice.
“We’re to set sail on the afternoon tide.”
“We? All the clan archers?”
“Sorry, my friend. Commander Higekuro allowed the general to select six archers to guard the princess – and only able-bodied men were chosen.”
“That’s just not fai –” Shun began to object but Rikyu placed one hand on his sound shoulder.
“I’m sure this is just a matter of imperial politics. Once the new emperor is enthroned, General Tachibana will petition him to pardon the Black Cranes.”
“But these rumors? That the castle is to be given to one of the new emperor’s supporters?”
Rikyu spread his hands wide in a gesture of bafflement. “If that happens, then I imagine you’ll soon be put to work serving the new masters.”
Shun’s forehead furrowed in a worried frown. “But once you and the clan warriors sail away, who will keep the castle safe? We’ll be an easy target for any passing pirate or bandit. We’ll have to organize a watch, otherwise how can we keep the women and what little food we have safe?”
“Sounds like just the job for you, Shun. Take care of yourself.” Rikyu smiled at him and turned to leave.
“That’s what I should be saying to you!” Shun went after him. “How long have we have been friends? Who knows how long the Cranes will be in exile? We could be old men before they’re pardoned.”
“Idiot,” said Rikyu amicably. “Trust you to look on the dark side.”
“You make sure you take care too.” Shun wrapped his sound arm around Rikyu’s shoulders and hugged him clumsily. For a moment Sakami saw Rikyu’s smiling expression cloud over as he returned the hug and a desolate look briefly dimmed his eyes. So, for all his talk, Rikyu’s putting on a brave face.
Rikyu extricated himself from Shun’s one-armed embrace, and hurried away from them without once looking back.
Shun stood watching Rikyu until he turned the corner of the main house. Even when his friend was lost to sight, he still stayed where he was, his back to Sakami, unmoving.
“Shun –” Sakami began, uncertainly reaching out to comfort him.
“How did things up like this?” he muttered. “The Kites attacked us. And now they’re lording it over us and we’re the ones in disgrace.”
“If you’re to assist me, Kiriko’s child, I thought you might like to wear these.” Father Taiki reappeared, wi
th the traditional clothes worn by a shrine maiden draped over his outstretched arms: the white haori jacket and cherry red hakama.
“These weren’t our mother’s, were they?” Sakami wondered, holding them up against herself.
“My daughter was miko here for some years,” he said, nodding at the memory, “before she married an imperial scribe and went off to live in the capital.”
“What’s this, Sakami?” Shun turned around, belatedly paying attention to what was going on. “Are you following in our mother’s footsteps?”
“I’m going to help out here in the shrine.” She glanced up at him. “Do you think she would have approved?”
“My little sister’s going to be a shrine maiden.” Shun seemed delighted with the idea. “Next time a peddler calls, I’ll buy you some white and red ribbons for your hair.”
“I’d like that, Shun,” she said, glad to have distracted him, even if only for a few minutes. “I’ll go and change. And then I’ll get to work cleaning up in here.”
A conch shell trumpet began to bray out from the main courtyard.
“That’s the summons for all those sailing with the princess,” Shun said. “We must go and give them a proper send-off.” He took hold of her by the hand, pulling her after him.
***
After the imperial fleet ships had set sail, Shun and a fellow archer, Hiroki, set about organizing a roster to keep watch, night and day.
“We have to protect the injured and the women and children ourselves,” Shun said. “Those damned Kites may have taken our horses – but they haven’t all gone to the capital with Lord Toshiro. They’ve left at least a dozen able-bodied men working on the last of the ships. Suppose they attack us?”
“Bandits are more of a danger if word gets out that our warriors have gone,” said Hiroki. “Either way, we need to be prepared.”
Bandits. Renegade Red Kites. The very mention only added to Sakami’s growing feeling of apprehension. We need to find a way to protect ourselves.
***
“Sakami.”
Sakami woke to see Honou beckoning her to follow him from the kitchen out into the starlit night. She rose and tiptoed past Mai and Mami where they lay asleep near the embers of the fire, Mami curled in on herself, Mai one arm flung wide.
The castle shrine glimmered with soft white light in the darkness and as they drew near, she saw that other kitsune had gathered there at the feet of Lady Inari.
It’s magical . . .the whole shrine is alight with foxfire.
“You’re late,” hissed Yukiko, the snow-white female guardian, as they hurried beneath the torii.
“I’m sorry,” Sakami whispered, chastened.
“Listen, children,” Inari looked around at them all. “The onmyōji who set Kurika free has become the new emperor. And Kurika is in a very dangerous mood. He’ll attack anything within his reach if he knows it will hurt me. He knows that the rice is nearly ready for harvesting. We need to protect the rice fields that lie beyond Mount Sakuranbo.”
“We’re ready to help you, Lady Inari,” said Sakami, eager to repay the goddess in any way she could for restoring her to life. “Tell us what to do.”
“We must enclose the rice fields in a ring of shrines, each one with its own guardian foxes. But most important of all is the ruined shrine that stood guard above Kurika’s tomb on the mountain, Sakami; the one where your mother was miko.”
“Then Honou and I will restore the shrine,” Sakami said, “and keep watch up there.”
“You?” said Yukiko disdainfully. “You’re utterly inexperienced. And you only have four tails between the two of you.”
“So what if we have?” demanded Honou before Sakami could stop him.
Kané, the male three-tails, cuffed Honou, making him yelp. “Don’t answer back, cub. Show some respect for your elders and betters.”
Honou’s ears went back and he growled, showing his white teeth. For a moment, Sakami feared that he would retaliate and a fight would break out but then she saw his tails droop and he subsided, muttering.
“You’re only a cub, Honou,” said the female three-tails. “You weren’t even born when Kurika escaped.”
“He destroyed the two guardian kitsune on Sakuranbo that night,” said Kané, a grim look in his golden eyes. “And they were old – and powerful, too. More powerful than Yukiko or me.”
So the kitsune tried to defend our village that night. The knowledge filled Sakami with sadness. And Kurika crushed them.
“There’s nothing for it, then.” Inari placed one hand on Kané’s sleek head, the other on Yukiko’s. “You two are the oldest, most experienced guardians on Sakuranbo. The time has come for me to give you some more of my power so that you can protect the mountain.”
Kané nodded; Yukiko rubbed her white head affectionately against the goddess’s palm. And as Sakami watched, a white radiance issued from the goddess’s fingers, enveloping both kitsune.
Like morning mist, shot through by the first rays of the rising sun.
She could sense the warmth and wanted to lie back and bask in it, until she saw that not three but four pale flames had begun to flicker behind each of the kitsune.
“Four tails,” she heard Honou murmur beside her, a tinge of envy in his voice. “Now that’s quite something.”
“You want to earn another tail, Fox-cub?” said Yukiko, fanning the four tails out behind her like pale feathers. “Then prove yourself. Work hard with Sakami to rebuild the mountain shrine.”
Chapter 5
“Kai.”
A shudder rippled through the sea. Kai, waking from a dulled doze, saw the ghostly shimmer of Shiohiru, the Ebb Dragon, materializing close by beneath the gray-green waters.
“Kai.” Masao was calling to him. The tide was on the turn and he was already being swept toward the land. “Be careful.” The pearl-white head broke the surface, green eyes glinting wild with warning. “The Red Kites have been pardoned. You’re a wanted man.”
“The siege is over?” Kai called back – but even as he asked, he felt an extraordinary force pick him up and carry him toward the shore, away from Masao.
“Tunic. . .” he heard carried faintly on the freshening breeze. “Third. . . sea cave. . .”
Tunic? And then he was on his hands and knees in the shallows, washed up on the far side of the headland, shivering and naked.
The first thing he noticed were the four imperial warships anchored in Kurozuro Bay.
He pushed himself to his feet and set off up the beach. After a moment’s disorientation, he found his balance, slowly putting one foot in front of the other. There was no lurching as he walked, no awkward sensation of listing to the side and then righting himself with every step. There was no limp. He looked down at his body, checking his legs. All trace of the childhood illness that had altered his gait, leaving him lame, unable to run free with the other Black Crane children, had gone.
I’m healed?
He set off again, testing his newfound balance, delighted and astonished, walking steadily, with not even the slightest twinge of pain radiating up through his knee into his hip and back.
Did Flood do this? Did he make me whole again?
Kai’s first impulse was to whoop his amazement aloud, to let out a ringing shout that would echo around the cliffs and set the seagulls yammering. But Masao had warned him that he was a wanted man. He dared not draw attention to himself. A naked man shouting at the top of his lungs was bound to cause a stir. Even the village fishermen wore a fundoshi loin cloth in hot weather. So he searched the sea caves for the tunic Masao had left for him, and eventually found it, high on a rocky ledge. He was just securing it around his waist with the ties when he heard voices.
A forlorn little procession was winding its way down the beach toward the repaired imperial warships. Kai hid behind the rocks, straining to see who was going on board.
A broad-set bearded warrior in gold-lacquered armor was escorting the procession; as they reached the tidel
ine, he turned and bowed to them.
“Your highness; Lord Takeru; General Tachibana; permit me to welcome you on board the flagship of the imperial fleet.”
“Why this pretence of civility, Commander Higekuro? We are your prisoners; you must treat us as such.”
Kai leaned forward, recognizing his mother’s voice, each word icily clipped and distinct. Prisoners? What did she mean?
Commander Higekuro gave an embarrassed laugh. “I have received instructions from the new emperor, Princess Asagao, that you are to be treated with the utmost respect, according to your rank.”
“I do not see why I, and all my clan, must be forced to suffer because of some foolishness committed by my younger son.”
By me? Kai listened in growing dismay to the exchange. So this was the way Hotaru was planning to entrap him; he was going to hold his family hostage until he gave himself up.
“The wind is chilly,” his mother said with a disdainful sniff. “My ladies will catch cold.”
Higekuro bowed again and offered his hand to help Princess Asagao on to the gangplank that led up to the lower deck of the ship. She turned away, silently, proudly declining, and walked on board without assistance, followed by General Tachibana, her chief retainer. Three of her ladies shuffled after their mistress, their heads lowered; Kai heard a muffled sound and recognized his old nurse Umeko, arm raised to cover her face, trying to stifle her sobs behind the wide sleeve. Last of all, supported by Isamu and Susumu, came Takeru, his gait still unsteady and shambling.
Takeru. The sight of his injured brother making his stumbling way on board almost broke Kai’s resolve. And yet if I give myself up now, I’ll have no guarantee that Hotaru will set my family free.
It was hard to have to watch from his hiding place, knowing that if he surrendered now, there would be no chance of defeating Hotaru.
At least Susumu, his squire, was still alive. And Isamu is devoted to Takeru; he’ll protect him, no matter what the cost.
Although as the three came nearer, Kai saw that Susumu had a black eye and ugly purplish bruising around his mouth. The Kites must have given him a hard time for deceiving them by impersonating me..