by Sarah Ash
“Imperial majesty!” The babble of voices outside had become too loud to ignore.
The imperial physician slid open the door and came in, followed by Ochiba-san, looking slightly disheveled, as if she’d been obliged to push her way through the gathering crowd.
“Forgive me, Ayaka, I have to go.” Hotaru rose. “I want an immediate report on her majesty’s health,” he said as he passed the physician. In the corridor, his bodyguards were doing their best to keep the press of courtiers and ministers at bay.
“The empress needs quiet,” he said, raising his hands for silence. “Please follow me to the Courtiers’ Hall.”
“Has no one told his imperial majesty yet?” piped up a querulous voice. Lord Kiyomori, quivering with emotion, pushed his way to the front of the crowd, waving a message in one hand high above his head. “Akatobi Island’s on fire.”
***
For one brief, precious moment Ayaka felt Hotaru’s arms around her and, dizzy and weak, she clung on to him.
So he still cares for me.
But no sooner had he propped her up against a mound of silken cushions than he had vanished and the next face she saw looming out of the mists veiling her vision was that of the imperial physician.
Hotaru. . .gone already?
She struggled to get up to follow him but weakness overcame her. She fell backward, flailing, only to be caught by a strong pair of arms. Looking up, she saw Reika gazing down at her with a sternly perplexed expression.
Such a comforting, familiar presence.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Reika,” she whispered. And to her shame, she felt tears begin to trickle down her face.
“Give the empress some air.” The physician shooed away the ladies-in-waiting and curious courtiers who had crowded in to stare until no one but himself, Reika and Ochiba were left.
***
“What do you mean – Akatobi Island’s on fire?” Hotaru glared at the assembled courtiers and ministers who had gathered in the Courtiers’ Hall.
“We’ve had messengers from the Tide Dragon Monastery and several watchtowers along the coast.”
“The blaze is so fierce it can be seen from the mainland.”
“What should we do?”
“Send ships to search for survivors?”
Hotaru said nothing, trying to digest the information. Had Kurika taken matters into his own hands again?
“Your majesty must be worried about your brother and his entourage.” Lord Kiyomori was staring at him through narrowed lids.
Does he suspect that I had a hand in this?
“Where is Admiral Higekuro?” Hotaru scanned the hall, pointedly ignoring Lord Kiyomori’s barbed comment. The time has come to get rid of Kiyomori.
“Here, imperial majesty.” The courtiers drew aside to let Higekuro through.
“How soon can you get a squad over to the island to assess the situation?”
“Straight away.”
“I want to hear their report as soon as possible.”
Higekuro bowed and was about to hurry off when Lord Kiyomori stopped him.
“Would your imperial majesty sanction bringing ex-emperor Suzaku back to the mainland? If the houses on the island have been destroyed by this fire, where will he find shelter? And winter will soon be upon us.”
“It would be a charitable act that the people would approve of,” added Archbishop Gakudo, nodding his shaven head. “He could retire to one of our more remote monasteries, just as your great-grandfather did.”
Those two in cahoots again; how extremely convenient it would be for the Kiyomori Clan if Suzaku were to be brought out of exile.
“We need accurate intelligence first and foremost,” Hotaru said, ignoring them both. “Please see to it, Admiral.” Yet even as he was speaking, he became aware of a distant clamor of voices. “What now?” He heard his voice crack with irritation. Has a rival faction decided to assert itself? Am I in danger? His fingers slid instinctively inside his sleeve, checking for the paper onmyōji charms he kept ready for such an occasion. But his ministers looked equally worried; even Lord Kiyomori, his prime suspect.
Higekuro strode to the door and bellowed to his subordinates waiting outside, “Who dares to disturb the emperor and his ministers?”
Only then did Hotaru begin to distinguish words amongst the excited uproar.
“Tide Dragons! The Tide Dragons are at Akatobi Island!”
Hotaru rose. “The Tide Dragons?” Damn Kurika – did he have any idea of the consequences of his fire-raising?
Higekuro reached out into the gathering crowd and hauled a messenger into the audience hall. The man, clothes soaked with sweat, prostrated himself at Hotaru’s feet.
“Is it true? Both Tide Dragons have been sighted at Akatobi Island?”
The messenger, head still bowed, managed to wheeze, “It’s true. They’re saying – that your brother, the ex-emperor – summoned them. To put out – the fire.”
Chapter 38
As soon as the gentlemen of the imperial wardrobe had removed the emperor’s heavy robes of state, Hotaru dismissed them all.
“I need some time alone. Make sure I am not disturbed.”
When he was certain that the last one had withdrawn, he steeled himself and cast the most powerful summoning onmyōdo spell he knew.
The silken hangings flapped in a sudden gust of hot wind and Kurika appeared in mortal form.
“On your knees, Kurika.” Hotaru, exhausted from the hours of conferring with his ministers, was determined to ensure that the shikigami still understood who was master. “You’ve gone too far this time.”
Kurika tried to retreat but Hotaru’s spell ensnared him, slowly forcing his dark-sheened, sleek body into a submissive kneeling position.
“You acted on your own, without my permission.” And may the gods help us all if he decides to act on his own again.
“If I’d waited for you to decide what to do, nothing would have happened.” A defiant light flickered in Kurika’s crimson eyes. “You should be thanking me.”
The fact that Kurika had read him so accurately only increased Hotaru’s anger.
“And I suppose no one saw you?”
Kurika laughed, showing his pointed white teeth, “No one who survived.”
“How can you be sure? There are always survivors.”
“Who’s going to believe the word of a Black Crane? They’re ‘rebels and traitors.’” Kurika tauntingly mimicked Hotaru’s manner of speaking. “Who’s to say that they didn’t set fire to the compound themselves? To force you and your ministers into relocating them?”
Hotaru didn’t even deign to reply.
“It was quite an inferno.” Kurika’s evident pleasure in his wanton act of destruction stirred conflicting feelings in Hotaru: terror at Kurika’s growing rebelliousness, mingled with a certain awed admiration. “Even if your brother escaped, he won’t pose much of a threat to you anymore.”
“My brother.” Was Suzaku dead? The possibility filled Hotaru with a sudden sense of panic.
“Stop deluding yourself,” Kurika said quietly. “There can only be one emperor – and he stood in your way.”
“Enough!” How could the creature read him so accurately? “You broke our contract. And for that you must be punished.” Hotaru pulled open the ceremonial brooch on his shoulder and drove the pin into his thumb. Drops of his blood spurted on to the Sacrifice seal, activating it and Kurika’s body jerked involuntarily as the matching seal lit up on his left breast.
“Punished?” The human form Kurika had assumed began to waver, exuding a shimmer of smoke. “Is this the reward I get for helping my master?” He slumped forward as the seal throbbed with light, each rhythmic pulse matching Hotaru’s heartbeat. “How much longer must I wait to get my reward?”
“I – bind – you – Kurika,” Hotaru struggled to pronounce the words of the ritual. Subduing the rebellious shikigami was already taking its toll. “You will stay within these four walls u
ntil I give you permission to leave.” He slid a paper onmyōdo spell charm from his sleeve, pressed his bloody thumb against it and flung it at the shikigami’s head.
Kurika’s lithe body convulsed as the charm pinned him down and he let out a rasping cry of frustration. The curling wisps of smoke fizzled out as he crumpled to the floor, still trying to transform into his aethyrial form and escape.
“Imperial majesty.” Kobai called from the outer chamber. “Admiral Higekuro is back with news from Akatobi Island. The ministers are waiting to attend on your majesty.”
Strength was fast ebbing from Hotaru, flowing from the seal on his wrist into the binding spell, and he was beginning to feel faint. And now I have to appear before my ministers as if nothing was wrong. . .
“Uguisu.” He turned in desperation to White Nightingale’s cage. “Can you weave a barrier around this room? A kekkai strong enough to keep Kurika confined?”
“It will be my pleasure.” Uguisu appeared beside him in her mortal form, her golden eyes beadily fixed on Kurika. “Leave it to me.”
***
“My brother missing?” Hotaru rounded on Admiral Higekuro. “What d’you mean ‘missing?’ You organized a thorough search, I trust; Akatobi Island is not that big.”
The admiral looked discomfited, rubbing his bearded chin with his thumb.
“My men searched the ruins of the compound as best they could; the buildings were just smoldering shells. At its height, the heat must have been so intense that the contents were reduced to ashes and rubble. And. . .we found human remains.”
“Identifiable?”
Higekuro shook his head. The ministers glanced uncertainly from one to another. Hotaru slumped back on the Phoenix Throne, gesturing to Lord Nagamoto to continue the interrogation on his behalf. He was spent from his battle of wills with Kurika. He could only hope that the courtiers would interpret his collapse as his devastated reaction to the news of his brother’s disappearance.
“So you interrogated the survivors, Admiral?” Lord Nagamoto asked. “There are survivors, I understand?”
“The few Black Cranes we encountered were in a sorry state.”
“You took a tally?”
“Those who were fit enough to help my men joined in the search. They were as desperate as we were to find the ex-emperor. But. . .” Higekuro’s words trailed away, ending in a helpless gesture
“So how did this devastating fire start?” asked Lord Kiyomori, breaking the stunned silence.
“Some of the Cranes thought it was a lightning strike.”
“But we had no thunderstorm last night here in the capital.”
“It must have blown in from the sea.” Higekuro was floundering under Lord Kiyomori’s incisive questioning. “Or perhaps someone was negligent when cooking the evening meal and a stray spark caught the thatch alight. . .”
“Doesn’t it strike you as strange, Admiral, that such a ruinous fire could take hold in so short a time? A spark from a cooking fire is easily extinguished.”
Lord Kiyomori’s nasal voice was irritating to listen to at the best of times; his constant needling grated on Hotaru’s already frayed nerves until he could bear it no longer.
He rose from the Phoenix Throne, startling the ministers. “The cause is irrelevant. My brother may well be dead. Please show a little compassion and give me some time alone to pray for him.” And he swept out of the room before Lord Kiyomori could make another objection.
***
Whatever came over me? How humiliating to faint like that. Ayaka, ravenously hungry, was working her way through several bowls of food: broth; rice porridge; noodles black with nourishing squid ink. Now everyone at court will be insinuating that I’m weak or pregnant or worse.“This is all so delicious,” she said, pushing aside the empty noodle bowl and reaching for a steamed bun.
Reika removed the dishes without a word, although Ayaka noticed her raise her eyebrows as she finished the buns.
“So?” she said defensively.
“I’m glad that your majesty has recovered her appetite.”
“Is there tea?” Ayaka gazed around hopefully.
“I’ll fetch some.”
“I had such a strange dream,” Ayaka said, sitting back, the worst of her hunger pangs assuaged. “About Kuri.” She sipped the clear green tea Reika had brewed for her.
Those red eyes scorching into me. . .
“That wasn’t a dream,” she said aloud. The memory triggered an involuntary pang of fear and her hands started to shake, spilling drops of tea on her gown.
In an instant Reika was at her side, her hands closing around over hers to steady them, deftly removing the bowl and placing it on the table, before dabbing up the spilled tea.
“Reika,” Ayaka said in a conspiratorial whisper, “where is Kuri?”
Reika turned to face her. “What really happened?”
Ayaka glanced around, fearing that Ochiba might return at any moment. It was so reassuring and relaxing to be alone with Reika. She beckoned Reika closer until their heads were nearly touching and continued in a low voice, in case they were overheard, “I think Kuri put some kind of spell on me.”
“Oh, come now, surely that’s just –” Reika began.
“You saw remember happened the last time? When you removed his collar and he changed?”
Reika bit her underlip, nodding.
“And now he’s disappeared again. I begin to wonder if he’s really a dog at all.”
“Whatever he is,” Reika said, “I swear to you, my lady, that I will not let him anywhere near you again.”
Just at that moment that Ochiba reappeared.
“I am glad to see that your majesty is feeling better,” she said primly, glancing at the empty bowls.
“Where is the emperor?” Ayaka asked in what she hoped was a suitably respectful tone.
“Haven’t you heard, majesty?” Ochiba looked surprised. “Oh, but I imagine he didn’t want anyone to upset you in your delicate condition.”
“I am not pregnant.” Ayaka was becoming irritated with the general court consensus that her wayward behavior must mean that she was expecting a baby. “And I obviously haven’t heard, or I wouldn’t be asking.”
“There’s been a terrible fire on Akatobi Island. The emperor’s brother has not been accounted for yet among the survivors.”
“Ex-emperor Suzaku is missing?”
“Missing, feared dead in the fire,” said Ochiba, her eyes downcast.
“Feared dead? But that’s terrible.” All Ayaka’s irritation melted away as she realized the implications of Ochiba’s news.
What agony Hotaru must be going through right now, not knowing if his brother is alive or not. And he’s always shown such devotion to Suzaku. . .
Chapter 39
Smoke lay, thick as winter fog, over the glowing embers of the Akatobi compound.
Masao pressed his fingers to his forehead, clothing himself in the illusion of a simple Black Crane tunic and hakama. But as he lowered his arms, he saw that the seal no longer glowed on his left wrist but was giving off a faint emerald glimmer from his upper arm, just beneath his shoulder.
Just as Kai warned me. Not good. I must have used up more life energy than I realized.
He hastily checked his body. But even though he was feeling weary, his body looked solid enough and he could see no obvious sign of transparency.
Not that there’s time to think about that now.
As he set off up the path from the sea, he could only stare around him in disbelief. The air was still clogged with fumes even though a sharp wind had arisen off the sea. The stench of burning made his eyes smart.
As the thickest vapors began to disperse, the damage caused by Kurika’s attack was gradually revealed.
The roof of the main hall has caved in. My father’s living quarters are gone, and the room I shared with Naoki and Raiko. Even the outlying little houses where Kinkiyo, Saburo and Beniko lived. . .
The sight sickened
him.
So much pointless destruction.
As he came closer, the cracked paving stones burned the soles of his bare feet.
The heat must have been intense to have shattered these stones. And it’s not so many years since we laid this path from the harbor, elite Kite shinobi working alongside our lowliest retainers.
“Is anyone there?” he called out. “Hallo!” He turned around, peering through the dispersing smoke for a sign – any sign – of life. The lack of response sent a chill of apprehension through him.
Suppose they’re all dead? How can I break the news to Kai?
He sensed a sudden stir of movement behind him and spun around. An archer had risen from behind the rubble, aiming an arrow directly at his throat.
“Identify yourself.”
“Lord Kaito sent me.” Masao raised his hands to show he was unarmed.
“Lord Kaito?” The archer slowly lowered the bow and waved him past.
Survivors; thank the gods. Masao followed the path upward until he came out on to the flat mossy piece of land his clan had used as a martial arts training ground.
An older Black Crane was quietly issuing instructions to a huddle of bedraggled survivors. He looked up as they approached and Masao saw the soot stains darkening his face and his charred clothing.
“Wait,” he said, fixing Masao with a penetrating stare. “I know you.” He rose to his feet and came toward him. “You’re that Red Kite shinobi who brought the Tide Jewels back to Lord Kaito.”
Masao knew there was no point in denying the fact; this man must be one of those observant few who never forgot a face. “You have an excellent memory, my lord,” he said. “My name is Akatobi no Masao. Are you General Tachibana?”
The man grunted in assent.
“Lord Kaito has sent me to offer you whatever help I can.”
“Lord Kaito sends us a Red Kite?”
“Kaito will be here as soon as the tide turns. But until then, I’m here to lead you to shelter in case that monster returns.”
“Why should we trust a K-Kite?” The speaker was a younger man who had been sitting slumped, head drooping.